Mecaware raises €40m for green EC battery scrap recycling
French startup Mecaware has raised €40m to scale up its more environmentally friendly chemical process for recycling scrap from EV battery gigafactories in Europe.
The funding for the EV battery scrap recycling venture comes from a pool of French investors, the French government, under the auspices of the France 2030 plan, and its banking partners.
This funding will enable the industrialisation of the pilot scheme for the recycling of battery production scrap developed in the ScrapCO2MET project with CRNS to be operational in 2025. This tool will produce 50 tonnes of recycled metal per year, in particular, lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese.
The company is also building a Technical Centre on the outskirts of Lyon (Vénissieux). This 1,600m2 site includes offices, an R&D laboratory and a factory building.
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Mecaware is currently focusing on the recycling of end-of-life EC battery packs and production scrap from the EV battery gigafactories being set up in France and across Europe. It has developed a patented process that uses the capture of CO2 and the recycling of critical metals for a closed loop system that does not produce any effluent waste and with no special energy requirements.
The chemical process was developed by Professor Julien Leclaire at the Applied Supramolecular Chemistry Laboratory in Lyon and after an initial technological development phase conducted by SATT Sud-Est, received significant investment and support from PULSALYS to optimise the lab chemistry and define various processes protected by 3 patents, 2 of which are jointly owned with Aix-Marseille Université, Centrale Marseille and the ENSC in Montpellier.
“Mecaware is deploying a ground-breaking and scalable industrial solution as part of a circular economy approach. It makes it possible to secure supplies of raw materials, enabling the strategic independence of our territories to bolster the energy transition, all in compliance with EU Regulations. Our technological solution addresses the current problems caused by traditional processes,” said Arnaud Villers d’Arbouet, Co-Founder and CEO of Mecaware.
This fundraising operation carried out with a pool of investors was organised by Crédit Mutuel Innovation and the SPI2 fund managed on behalf of the State of France by Bpifrance as part of the France 2030 initiative. It was supported by some of Mecaware’s investment partners, who thus consolidated their positions: EIT InnoEnergy, UI Investissement, Kreaxi, BNP Paribas Développement, Crédit Agricole Création.
Mecaware plans to commission its first factory for EV battery scrap recycling in late 2026 with a production capacity of 8,000 tonnes of metal per year.
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