German Startup Tozero Raises $11.7M to Scale Innovative Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Process
As the demand for lithium surges globally, a German startup, Tozero, is sprinting to scale its innovative lithium-ion battery recycling technology. The company has just closed an oversubscribed €11 million ($11.7 million) seed funding round to build its first industrial-scale plant.
Tozero’s process, protected as a trade secret, uses a water-based carbonation method to recover valuable raw materials like lithium and graphite from recycled batteries. This approach is more environmentally friendly than traditional smelting techniques, resulting in 70% lower emissions.
“The security of the raw material – it’s national security in a way,” said Tozero co-founder and CEO Dr. Sarah Fleischer. “There are so many underserved industries here in Europe that are starving for the material because Europe doesn’t produce lithium carbonate; we’re importing.”
With global lithium demand expected to quadruple by 2030, driven by the rise of electric vehicles and renewable energy storage, Tozero is well-positioned to help meet this growing need. The startup has already lined up over €1 billion worth of off-take agreements with eager customers.
Tozero’s co-founders, Fleischer and Dr. Ksenija Milicevic Neumann, attribute the company’s rapid progress to their focus on speed and creativity. By rapidly iterating and learning from mistakes, Tozero has been able to build its pilot plant and secure its first commercial deliveries in just two years since the company’s founding.
“We break things fast, learn, iterate and improve at a very fast pace – probably like Elon Musk’s SpaceX kind of principle – just get stuff building and see [what happens] until things break, learn from it, and iterate and improve in very fast sprints,” Fleischer explained.
While Tozero is initially focusing on the European and North American markets, the startup plans to expand its recycling operations globally once its first industrial-scale plant is operational. The company’s ultimate goal is to achieve zero waste of critical raw materials, potentially expanding into the recycling of other energy-related materials in the future.
