RWTH spin-off cylib raises €55 million Series A funding
The cutting-edge RWTH technology scores the largest investment round ever raised by a European battery recycling company
The co-founders of cylib: Lilian Schwich, Dr. Gideon Schwich, and Paul Sabarny.
Sustainable end-to-end battery recycling start-up cylib has announced the completion of its €55 million Series A funding round in equity financing, co-led by the leading European climate tech VC World Fund, and Porsche Ventures, and joined by Bosch Ventures, DeepTech & Climate Fonds, NRW.Venture, existing investors Vsquared Ventures, Speedinvest, 10x Founders and established business angels. The round, which is the largest round ever raised by a European battery recycling company, was completed less than 24 months after the company was founded.
cylib is a spin-off from RWTH Aachen University, founded by Lilian Schwich, Paul Sabarny, and Dr. Gideon Schwich. In 2022, the team decided to translate nearly a decade of research at the Institute for Process Metallurgy and Metal Recycling (IME) into a start-up with a patent-pending technology, which is also backed by RWTH as a virtual shareholder. Less than two years later, the spin-off is not just an integral part of our local Aachen start-up ecosystem, having launched the Battery Circle Aachen together with fellow Aachen-based battery start-ups; the start-up’s impact is also recognized on the national level, with CEO and co-founder Lilian being one of the Top 3 Female Newcomers at the German Startup Awards 2024.
With the new funds, the spin-off aims to power the industrialization of its proprietary battery recycling technology, which enables every component in a lithium-ion battery to be recycled. The innovative process offers clients a way to recover all elements from production scraps, EV or micro mobility batteries, and is already used by leading OEMs and battery manufacturers.
