By Divya Rajagopal
TORONTO (Reuters) – Cyclic Materials, a recycler of critical metals such as the rare earths used to manufacture magnets for electric vehicles and wind turbines, has raised 53 million U.S. dollars from investors including BMWi and Hitachi Ventures.
It is the Canadian startup’s second funding round as it pursues global expansion plans, despite a slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) sales. Proceeds will be used to open commercial facilities in the United States and Europe, said CEO and Co-Founder Ahmad Ghahreman.
The funding round was led by ArcTern Ventures, BDC Capital, Zero Infinity Partners, Climate Investment, and Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund.
Previous investors which participated in the Series B fund included Fifth Wall, BMWi Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, and Planetary Technologies. In the last 12 months the company has raised total equity of more than $83 million.
Cyclic Materials’ technology extracts critical raw materials from end-of-life electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, MRI machines, and data center electronic waste.
The company is one of a handful aiming to capture a bigger share of the rare earth supply chain as Western governments back domestic players in attempt to break China’s hold on the market, of which it controls about 95%.
“When it comes to critical metals and specifically rare earth metals, we desperately need them outside of China…the story of electrification is so strong we need those metals,” Ghahreman said, adding that fundraising had been tough nonetheless.
The company had allowed nine months to complete the funding but closed the round in just three, something Ghahreman said indicated a demand for these metals beyond auto makers.
(Reporting by Divya Rajagopal; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)