The Luxembourg startup never ceases to amaze. After an official launch at the beginning of the year, followed by a selection to the Fit 4 Start program, then to the Scaleup Landing Pad Hamburg program, it is now also being accelerated with the Shell StartUp Engine program. We sit down with the team to breathe for 2 minutes and take stock!
What is the Shell Startup Engine – Social Impact program about?
The Shell StartUp Engine – Social Impact Program, in partnership with Startupbootcamp, AVL & Microsoft, is a global innovation programme for early to mid-stage green energy startups. It is specifically dedicated to helping social impact startups accelerate through access to resources such as individual mentorship, industry-focused network and relevant partners. Together with other inspiring founders the participating startups embark on a challenging learning journey on the way to creating real impact in the world. The program is part of Shell’s ambition to contribute to a net-zero world and aiming to become a net zero business by 2050.
Why did you decide to apply to such a program?
By participating in a program of one of the world’s leading energy companies, we are able to gain access to unique resources and networks across the globe, including mentors, experts, coaches, program alumnis and other relevant ecosystem partners. Furthermore, as Circu Li-ion, we can build our credibility and reputation in the energy industry, while strengthening our ties with our international customers, partners and investors.
When you are a startup in the launch phase, what do you concretely expect from the program?
First and foremost, we expect to thrive in an environment of continuous learning and exchange with like-minded participants from the green energy ecosystem. Furthermore, the program offers coaching on concrete hard and soft skills that we can directly translate into success for our business venture. These skills include: pitch training by professional coaches, fine tuning our business case for commercial readiness and how to navigate the investor landscape.
What is your social impact?
We maximize the lifecycle of each li-ion cell through our automated upcycling process of used, end of life battery packs and by doing so we save valuable resources that can still be used for 2nd life purposes, while reducing CO2 emissions by around 80%. More specifically, we recover >80% of otherwise shredded (`recycled`) cells and give them a 2nd life, which reduces operating costs by >30%. Thus, our solution has significant positive impact on the environment by meeting sustainability targets and reducing emissions.
Where are you in the development of your products?
We have validated our proof of concept and finalized our automated hardware process foundation. Currently, we are training our robotics opening system to add more and more battery models to our battery library. Here, our current focus are micromobility and power tool batteries, as these types are most common and market ready. As a result, our current paying customers range from micromobility providers, to electric vehicle providers and recyclers – either using our MaaS model or our in-house service provider option. Currently, we are scaling up our business in Luxembourg and Germany and are planning our goto-market role out throughout Europe.
What are the next steps for Circu Li-ion?
To further accelerate on our mission to maximize the lifecycle of each li-ion cell, we are currently in the process of entering our seed funding round by the end of this year and growing the Circu Li-ion family with high potential talents. Additionally, we are growing our paying customer base, building POC lighthouse cases and engaging in new pilot projects to further test & learn.
