Bosch Ventures, the venture capital arm of Bosch, the world's largest automotive parts company, is actively investing in two battery recycling ventures and collaborating with Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer VinFast in Europe.
Bosch Ventures (Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH) focuses on investing in innovative startups in areas such as automation, electrification, energy efficiency, and medical systems. It is a subsidiary of the Bosch Group, which employs over 429,000 people and achieved sales of €91.6 billion (approximately KRW 135 trillion) in 2023.
According to EV Report, a media outlet specializing in electric vehicles, Bosch Ventures recently announced two major investments in battery recycling. Specifically, it led the funding of €55 million (approximately KRW 80.8 billion) for the German startup Cylib and $36 million (approximately KRW 48.6 billion) for the U.S. company Li Industries.
Bosch Ventures Invests in Promising Battery Recycling Companies in Germany and the U.S.
Founded in 2022, Cylib has rapidly grown to become a leader in end-to-end lithium-ion battery recycling technology. Through collaboration with major automotive OEMs and battery manufacturers, Cylib recovers valuable materials such as lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, and manganese.
This investment round is the largest proposed by a European battery recycling company and was completed in less than 24 months since the company's inception. Cylib will use the funds to support the industrialization of its proprietary technology, already in use by major OEMs and battery manufacturers, by expanding operations at an existing brownfield industrial facility in Germany.
Cylib's proprietary process is recognized as having the world's best battery recycling technology. Cylib can recycle all components of lithium-ion batteries, making it a rare company in the market that offers complete recycling solutions for production scrap, EV batteries, and micro-mobility batteries. Cylib achieves recycling efficiency of over 90% while reducing the environmental footprint of its recycling process by 30% through aqueous lithium and graphite recovery compared to competitors.
Meanwhile, Bosch Ventures has also invested in the U.S. company Li Industries, which is the first and only company in the U.S. to economically and sustainably recycle low-cobalt batteries, such as lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, using its unique Direct E2ETM recycling technology.
This funding round was co-led by Bosch Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and LG Tech Ventures.
The funds raised will be used to construct a 10,000-ton recycling facility based on Li Industries' proprietary Direct E2ETM recycling technology.
Li Industries is a climate-tech company developing next-generation lithium-ion battery recycling technology. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Pineville, North Carolina, the company has developed direct recycling technology for lithium-ion batteries used in EVs and consumer electronics.
VinFast Partners with Bosch to Access 700,000 Charging Points in Europe
In addition, Bosch has entered into a partnership with Vietnamese EV manufacturer VinFast to create an extensive EV charging network.
Through this partnership, VinFast's European customers will have access to an extensive network of 700,000 charging points across 30 countries in Europe.
Bosch expanded the partnership to Europe following two years of successful collaboration in North America.
Martin Knoss, Vice President of Bosch ASEAN, said, “Most EV drivers rely on public charging infrastructure. Bosch has continuously expanded its global network, increasing it sixfold since 2020. Through this partnership, we will be able to accommodate VinFast customers across Europe and support them with a total of 850,000 charging ports by the end of 2024.”
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