Neu Battery Materials charges up with $3.7m

Bryan Oh (left) and Kenneth Palmer, co-founders of Neu Battery Materials / Photo credit: Neu Battery Materials

Neu Battery Materials, a startup that recycles lithium-ion batteries using electricity and regenerative chemicals, has secured US$3.7 million in a seed funding round led by SGInnovate, an investor and ecosystem builder backed by the Singapore government.

The startup plans to use the funds to accelerate the deployment of its automated recycling line, which will help it reduce staffing costs. It also aims to partner with more electric vehicle OEMs and battery manufacturers in key global markets to increase the adoption of its tech in the transport and mobility sector.

Funding details

Funding amount: US$3.7 million
Lead investors: SGInnovate (Infocomm Investments)
Other investors: ComfortDelGro Ventures, Shift4Good, Paragon Ventures I
Stage: Seed
Source

Founded in 2021, Neu Battery Materials can process lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are common in electric vehicles and have a longer life span compared to lead-acid batteries and other lithium batteries.

It has also recently set up a recycling plant in Singapore, which can handle about 150 tonnes of lithium batteries a year.

Neu Battery Materials said it is researching how to recycle other types of lithium batteries, such as cobalt-based batteries used in smart devices and EVs.

“As we are electrifying our vehicles, our investment in Neu Battery Materials will allow us to explore the technologies needed towards recycling our batteries more responsibly,” said Cheng Siak Kian, managing director and group CEO at ComfortDelGro.

The Singapore taxi firm, which also invested in Neu Battery Materials’ seed round, recently pumped US$4.3 million into Shift4Good, as ComfortDelGro aims to deepen its involvement in greentech startup investments.

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