French Deep‑Tech Startup Raises €23M to Localize Rare‑Earth Magnet Production

MagREEsource, a deep‑tech industrial spin‑off from CNRS-Institut Néel in Grenoble founded in 2020, has closed a €23 million Series A led by Fonds SPI 2 (managed by Bpifrance under France 2030), with participation from FININDUS , Innovacom , BNP Paribas Développement , C2AD , UI Investissement , Fonds Régional Avenir Industrie Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes , FCPR Impact & Performance , Rhône Dauphiné Développement , and strategic partners including L‑Acoustics and Groupe Pochet .

The funding will accelerate industrialization of its proprietary hydrogen-based “short-loop” and next-gen “Fusion short-loop” recycling processes , enabling sustainable production of high-performance permanent magnets with a 91% lower carbon footprint compared to Chinese mining . MagREEsource plans to scale from its existing 80 t/year capacity at its Noyarey pilot site to a fully-built MagFactory capable of 1,000 t/year by 2028 , recognized as a “Strategic European Project” under the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act.

Leveraging 30 years of CNRS R&D , MagREEsource’s technology enables a circular approach to magnet production—“magnet-to-magnet”—without using solvents or acids, and aligns with strategic European goals for sovereignty and industrial autonomy in critical materials.

Operational momentum includes the ongoing expansion of its Noyarey site (adding ~400 m² to reach 1,600 m²), creation of approximately 10 new jobs in 2025 , and advancement toward full vertical integration up to metallization ahead of MagFactory construction

Source: StartupRise

M.A.