Pineville’s Li Industries, which has developed lithium-ion battery recycling technologies, has raised $36 million from investors.
The investors include Bosch Ventures, Khosla Ventures and LG Tech Ventures with Formosa Smart Energy Tech Corp., Anglo American Decarbonization Ventures and Chevron Technology Ventures coming in as new investors.
They join existing investors Shell Ventures and Myriad Ventures.
Given investor interest, Li said it plans to expand the investment round to $42 million, which would bring its total private funding to more than $50 million. The company says the money will be used to construct a 10,000-ton recycling facility.
“We are thrilled to be backed by such a strong group of investors,” says CEO and co-founder Zheng Li. “Our investors bring invaluable resources, experience and commercial partnerships that are essential for us to successfully scale and commercialize.”
The company’s previous fundraising from investors led to the development of a 500-ton battery recycling facility in Pineville and a 1,000-ton battery sorting facility in Charlotte.
“Li Industries is poised to tackle significant challenges in the li-ion battery’s circular supply chain with innovative, scalable solutions,” said Ingo Ramesohl, managing director at Bosch Ventures. “They are the first and only company in the U.S. capable of economically and sustainably recycling low/no cobalt batteries.”
Li Industries was founded in 2017.