Metastable Materials, which specializes in using advanced technology to recycle lithium-ion batteries, has secured seed funding. Surge, Sequoia Capital India, and Southeast Asia’s rapid scale-up program led the funding round, which also saw participation from Speciale Invest, Theia Ventures, and other individual investors. The details of the funds raised were not disclosed.
The demand for lithium-ion batteries is growing rapidly, and there is a $4.6 billion industry for their recycling, which is expected to grow at least five times by 2030. However, there are challenges to recycling these batteries, such as the high cost and logistics involved in transporting them to recycling plants due to their flammability and packaging requirements. In addition, the extraction process is complex and requires significant investments in facilities and engineering.
Metastable has introduced a chemical-free Integrated Carbothermal Reduction process to address these challenges, significantly reducing capital and operational costs while achieving a recovery rate of over 90%. The startup also develops safe storage and packaging solutions to transport used batteries from consumers to recycling facilities. They have opened a facility in Bengaluru that can process up to 1,500 tonnes of material annually, meeting 6% of India’s recycling demand for Li-ion batteries.
Metastable plans to use the new funding to recruit staff to support manufacturing, industrial engineering, supply chain management, and day-to-day operations.