Impact Loop was first with reporting that Copenhagen-based Nordic Salt Cycle has secured € 3.5 million to commercialise a molten-salt technology designed to extract critical minerals from old tech such as EV batteries, wind turbines, and electronics.
The round was led by EIFO, Denmark’s state-owned green-transition investment fund, with participation from existing investors such as The Footprint Firm and German fund Ananda Impact Ventures
“Critical minerals impact our lives on a daily basis, there is no question that every person reading this post relies on them in some form. We do not produce these in Europe and are entirely reliant on imports, which is a huge geopolitical risk. We need to have economically viable routes for critical mineral recovery, and this requires innovation. That is exactly what we are doing at Nordic Salt Cycle, developing a completely new process that will enable critical minerals recovery. First in Europe, and then the world,”
said James Amphlett, CTO and co-founder
Their prototype is already running, and they have demonstrated the ability to separate and recover critical materials from the black mass of electric vehicle batteries, using very little energy, far fewer chemicals and with unit economics that outperform today’s best available technologies.
What sets their approach apart is the ability to process end-of-life materials locally in compact, modular units. This avoids large-scale chemical plants and enables European-distributed recovery of lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements.
“Super excited (and proud) to see this announced. The team are a pleasure to work with and are developing a truly disruptive business to recycle critical materials in a commercially attractive manner. The pace of development is really impressive. Fundraising for early stage deep tech in these markets isn’t easy, so achieving to close a second round in 12 months is huge.”
said Dominic Charnock, board member
