Altilium, a UK-based clean technology startup, focused on supporting the transition to net zero, has raised $5 million as part of its Series B funding round. The investment came from Japanese trading and investment group Marubeni Corporation, which backed Moxion Power and Skeleton Technologies. This follows the $21 million Series A investment secured last year.
The investment will support the company’s mission to deliver the UK’s most sustainable lithium-ion battery materials, through its full battery circularity offering. It also plans to construct the UK’s largest planned EV battery recycling facility in Teesside.
Battery recycling
It is fundamental to the UK’s goal of securing a sustainable domestic supply chain for future domestic EV production. This will require establishing a circular economy that enables recycling and reuse of critical materials within batteries, such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese. It will not only reduce the UK’s reliance on global supply chains but will also lead to significant reductions in the carbon footprint of new lithium-ion EV batteries. This is where Altilium comes into the picture.
Its technology recovers most of the critical metals found in black mass to produce cathode active materials ready for re-use in the production of new batteries.
Critical metals supplier to EV batteries
Founded in 2020 by Kamran Mahdavi and Christian Marston in the UK, Altilium develops a sustainable circular economy for battery materials. It is claimed to reduce dependency on international supply chains and save natural resources. The company’s proprietary EcoCathode process converts end-of-life EV batteries and manufacturing scrap into domestic, sustainable, battery precursors, cathode active materials (CAM) and cathode precursor (pCAM) for direct reuse in new batteries.
It is claimed to recover over 95% of the battery metals from an end-of-life EV battery, reducing the cost of battery raw materials by up to 20% and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 74% compared to virgin materials.
Largest EV battery recycling plant
Altilium’s first mini-commercial plant recently commenced operations in Plymouth while Teesside plant will be one of the largest EV battery recycling facilities in Europe. The plant will have the capacity to process scrap from over 150,000 EVs per year, producing 30,000 MT of CAM, enough to meet around 20% of the UK’s expected needs by 2030.
The investment will support the next stage of development for the Teesside facility, including detailed engineering studies, land acquisition, planning and permitting, and recruitment of the key leadership team.
Kamran Mahdavi, CEO of Altilium, commented: “We are proud to welcome Marubeni as a strategic partner at this pivotal stage in Altilium’s growth journey. Their investment strengthens our position as leaders in sustainable battery materials and reinforces our commitment to building the UK’s largest EV battery recycling facility. Together, we are advancing our mission to create a UK closed-loop supply chain, reduce dependency on imported materials and lowering the environmental footprint of battery production. This partnership marks a major milestone in establishing a truly circular economy for the UK’s battery industry.”
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