Renewable Metals raises $12 million Series A to scale next-generation lithium-ion battery recycling technology
What's the deal? Australia-based Renewable Metals has closed a $12M Series A to commercialise its lithium-ion battery recycling technology. The round was oversubscribed and upsized from an initial $8M target, bringing total funding to over $38M since inception.
The raise was led by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), managed by Virescent Ventures, with participation from Neglected Climate Opportunities, European Metal Recycling (EMR), Investible, and new investor Climate Tech Partners. Australian and UK government support also contributed to the total.
The funds will go toward three priorities: running its commercial prototype plant in Kewdale, Western Australia, around the clock from mid-2026; advancing engineering design for its first commercial facility in Hunter, New South Wales; and expanding its R&D, engineering, and commercial teams.
Why now? Global battery recycling capacity is heavily concentrated in China, with much of the world's battery waste exported for processing. Western governments are pushing to build domestic critical-mineral supply chains, creating an opening for locally deployable recycling solutions.
Renewable Metals has developed an alkali-based hydrometallurgical process that recovers lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and manganese from spent batteries. It claims over 95% recovery rates — up to 30% more lithium than conventional acid-based methods — at lower cost and with less environmental impact.
The technology handles all major battery chemistries (NMC, LCO, LFP) and feed forms without pre-sorting or dismantling. It also eliminates sodium sulphate waste, a significant cost and regulatory burden in the US and Europe.
What could go wrong? Prototype performance doesn't always translate to commercial-scale economics. The company's first full-scale plant is still in the engineering-design phase, and it will need to prove that its modular approach can genuinely compete with established Chinese recyclers on cost.
The battery recycling market is also getting crowded, with well-funded competitors in North America and Europe racing to build capacity. Feedstock supply remains a bottleneck too — end-of-life battery volumes are growing but still limited relative to the recycling capacity being planned globally.
The signal: This raise reflects a broader push to "reshore" critical-mineral processing. Governments in Australia, the US, the UK, and Europe are backing technologies that can keep battery materials within domestic supply chains rather than shipping them to China.
Renewable Metals' modular, smaller-scale approach is notable. Rather than building massive centralised plants, it is designing facilities that can be deployed where the waste actually is — and scaled up as volumes grow. If the economics hold, that model could prove more practical for Western markets where battery waste is still emerging at relatively modest volumes.
