The archive · Climate & Energy · Strategic decision · 2022–2026
Cylib bets on owning Europe's EV battery recycling; €55M Series A, €63.4M grant
Aachen spin-off recovering all battery materials with water-based chemistry at 30% less energy; Europe's largest recycling round, now building a 60kt plant.
cylib
What the business is
End-to-end lithium-ion battery recycler: recovers lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt and manganese from EV packs, production scrap and black mass using its water-based OLiC process, and is building Europe's first industrial-scale LFP recycling line.
Starting capital：~€11.6M seed (World Fund), which funded a pilot line able to recycle one EV battery pack per day; €55M Series A co-led by World Fund and Porsche Ventures with Bosch Ventures, DeepTech & Climate Fonds and NRW.Venture (March 2024); €63.4M German federal grant (December 2025); over €140M in equity and grants by April 2026.
How it started
Founded in 2022 in Aachen by Lilian Schwich, Paul Sabarny and Gideon Schwich after about a decade of battery-recycling research at RWTH Aachen University. The seed round delivered a working pilot line in September 2023, and the team completed recycling projects with automotive OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers and refineries before the Series A.
What happened
In March 2024 cylib closed a €55M Series A co-led by World Fund and Porsche Ventures, joined by Bosch Ventures, DTCF and NRW.Venture — the largest round ever for a European battery recycler and the first Porsche-Bosch co-investment in Germany. In December 2025 the German government granted €63.4M to double the Dormagen plant to 60,000 tonnes per year and build Europe's first industrial-scale LFP recycling line, with operations planned for 2027. In April 2026 cylib joined the 25-partner SIB:DE consortium to develop Europe's first industrial sodium-ion battery recycling process.
How it ended up
Still scaling: with over €140M raised, construction preparations at CHEMPARK Dormagen are underway for a plant processing up to 60,000 tonnes per year from 2027, while cylib builds sodium-ion recycling capacity ahead of that chemistry's waste wave.
Background
cylib is a German battery recycler spun out of RWTH Aachen University that recovers lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt and manganese from EV packs, production scrap and black mass. Its water-based OLiC process beats traditional smelting on cost and carbon, achieving over 90% recycling efficiency with roughly 30% lower energy use.
Founded in 2022 by Lilian Schwich, Paul Sabarny and Gideon Schwich, the company built a pilot that could recycle one EV battery pack per day, then closed Europe's largest-ever battery-recycling round: a €55M Series A in March 2024 co-led by World Fund and Porsche Ventures, with Bosch Ventures, DeepTech & Climate Fonds and NRW.Venture participating.
The bet is that Europe must recycle its batteries locally instead of exporting black mass to Asia. cylib is now building a 60,000-tonne-per-year plant at CHEMPARK Dormagen (operations from 2027, backed by a €63.4M German grant), and in April 2026 it joined the SIB:DE consortium to develop Europe's first industrial sodium-ion recycling process before that chemistry reaches end-of-life scale.
What has to be true
- Hydrometallurgy recovers all battery elements at more than 90% efficiency with ~30% less energy, an economics-and-carbon advantage over smelting.
- Automaker capital from Porsche and Bosch Ventures gave a two-year-old spin-off credibility and feedstock relationships before industrial capacity existed.
- EU critical-raw-materials rules and battery-recycling mandates create a protected European demand base that favors local recyclers.
- Building LFP and sodium-ion capacity now positions cylib for the next waste waves rather than defending yesterday's chemistry.
What can be applied
Build capacity before the waste wave: cylib's strategy of installing recycling infrastructure ahead of end-of-life volumes turned a chemistry edge into Europe's largest battery-recycling round.
Aftermath
As of April 2026, cylib has raised over €140M in equity and grants, employs around 120 people, and has begun construction preparations for its first industrial facility at CHEMPARK Dormagen — up to 60,000 tonnes per year, equivalent to roughly 140,000 EV batteries, with operations scheduled for 2027. It leads recycling work in the 25-partner SIB:DE sodium-ion consortium and is developing direct recycling as a lower-cost second route. The open question is execution: hitting the 2027 startup date and proving recovered materials command battery-grade prices.
Sources
- Cylib wants to own EV battery recycling in Europe
- Next-gen lithium-ion battery recycling technology company cylib raises €55 million Series A to scale industrially
- cylib pioneers sodium-ion battery recycling with German industry and research
- cylib secures €63.4 million to scale LFP battery recycling in Europe
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