Rare earth element recycler Cyclic Materials to expand after $53M Series B funding round

A Canadian company called Cyclic Materials is working to create a circular supply chain for rare earth elements (REEs) using advanced recycling processes. The company just secured $53 million via a Series B equity round to accelerate its global expansion and recycling infrastructure.

Cyclic Materials was founded in Toronto in the fall of 2021 following a successful seed round. From there, the Rare Earth Element (REE) recycling specialist began developing and scaling its proprietary technology capable of economically and sustainably recovering critical raw materials from end-of-life EV motors, wind turbines, MRI machines, and other electronic waste.

Rather than focus on one particular component, such as batteries, the company specializes in recycling rare earth magnets – a type of permanent magnet made from alloys of rare earth elements, which are part of a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table. To do so, Cyclic Materials has already introduced its “Mag-Cycle” (Spoke) and “REEPure” (Hub) processes and has proven their capabilities at the bench scale.

Following a REEPure pilot in the fall of 2022, Cyclic Materials has proven its continuous magnet processing capacity of 10 Tons per year, which is plausible. This milestone caught the attention of several outside investors who joined a successful series A funding round in the spring of 2023, including BMW i Ventures (BiV), Energy Impact Partners (EIP), as well as government funding from the Sustainable Development Technology Council of Canada (SDTC).

Since then, the company has launched a Mag-Cycle pilot facility with a design capacity of 8,000 tons per year, as well as a REEPure commercial demonstration facility with a magnet processing design capacity of 100 tons of rare earth elements per year.

Today, Cyclic Materials announced another successful round of funding totaling $53 million.

Cyclic gains more funding to recycle rare earth materials

According to a release from Cyclic Materials this morning, it has completed an oversubscribed Series B equity round totaling $53 million. The latest round was led by ArcTern Ventures and welcomed new investors such as BDC Capital’s Climate Tech Fund, Hitachi Ventures, and Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund. Existing investors like Fifth Wall, BMW i Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, and Planetary Technologies also participated.

With its Series B round now complete, Cyclic Materials has raised $83 million to date. It intends to use the capital to establish rare earth element recycling infrastructure in the US and Europe and grow its internal team. Company co-founder and CEO Ahmad Ghahreman elaborated:

We’re energized to partner with the world’s top sustainability-focused infrastructure and corporate investors to scale our technology’s impact. This funding underscores the confidence in our ability to create the circular economy for rare earths needed for the clean energy transition. Not only is our technology essential for supporting sustainable domestic production of rare earths, but it will also play a critical role in re-establishing North American and European leadership in the rare earths industry.

Much like benefits touted by other rare earth element recyclers like Redwood Materials, for example, Cyclic Materials’ magnet recycling process delivers significant environmental benefits compared to traditional mining processes, including a reduced carbon footprint and “unparalleled water efficiency.”

Cyclic Material’s successful Series B funding joins a recent $3.6 million grant awarded by Natural Resources Canada. Both combine to support the continued operation of Cyclic Materials’ “Hub100” commercial demonstration facility (seen above), which produces high-purity rare earth elements from recycled magnet material.