Entrepreneur First-backed green-tech startup lands $3.4m in seed round

Green Li-ion, a Singapore-based green-tech startup specializing in sustainable industrial solutions for battery rejuvenation, has secured US$3.4 million in seed funding in a round led by cleantech firm Linico.

IT services provider TES, SOSV’s hardware and robotics unit HAX, and Entrepreneur First (EF) also joined in the round. The latest investment comes after Green Li-ion closed US$400,000 in pre-seed funding last year.

Green Li-ion co-founders: chief technology officer Reza Katal (left) and CEO Leon Farrant /Photo credit: Green Li-ion

Green Li-ion was founded by CEO Leon Farrant and chief technology officer Reza Katal in 2020 as part of EF Singapore’s six-month program.

Most battery recycling programs are equipped to process only certain types of lithium-ion batteries, resulting in 95% of these batteries being improperly disposed of in landfills, said the firm.

Green Li-ion helps address the issue by developing a multi-cathode processor that can recycle all types of spent lithium-ion batteries into 99.9% pure cathodes, it claims. It added that the product speeds up current recycling processes by up to 10x and improves profits by more than 4x.

The fresh capital will go toward the startup’s hardware development, including engineering and specialist manufacturing support, as well as reaching its sales goal of more than US$1 billion by 2025.

The green-tech startup has inked deals with TES and Linico to pre-sell five machines in Singapore and the US. It’s also exploring potential licensing opportunities to introduce its technology outside its existing markets.

“One of the world’s biggest challenges is how we can maintain sustainable growth while preserving natural resources. Forecasts predict that we will be using 30% more energy in 2040 than we already are, spotlighting the urgency with which we must develop circular economy solutions, such as with battery recycling,” said Farrant.