BatX Energies, a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery recycling start-up, has raised $5 million in pre-Series A funding. The round was led by Zephyr Peacock and saw participation from Lets Venture, existing investors JITO Angel Network, and family offices of Mankind Pharma, Excel Industries, BluSmart, and more.
The company said the investment will fuel its market expansion and scaling up of recycling operations across the country. The start-up, which was established in 2020, transforms used batteries into battery-grade materials.
The company says its IP and proprietary zero-waste, zero-emission hydro-electro process can extract 99.95 per cent pure lithium, nickel, and cobalt from the black mass. So far, it has recycled 220 million batteries.
Utkarsh Singh, co-founder and CEO of BatX Energies, said, “We are focused on reducing the critical material imports for India and producing them by recycling, thus making India atma nirbhar. With this growth in capital, we will showcase developments in setting up industry standards.”
The company also plans to scale up the hydro-electro-based critical material extraction and refining capacities, commercial R&D for pCAM development from recycled battery minerals, and commence commercial-scale production of second-life stationary energy storage applications (ESS and BESS, according to a media release.
This enables a full-stack recycling and refurbishing solution for OEMs and their customers. Further, the funding support the establishment of new micro facilities (spokes) across the country, said Vikrant Singh, co-founder and CTO of BatX Energies.
“The company is poised to become a crucial stakeholder in the battery supply chain in India, as recyclers will be a significant source of critical materials for Li-ion battery manufacturing. We are excited to partner with them on this journey,” said Pankaj Raina, Managing Director, Zephyr Peacock.