Ontario-headquartered Cyclic Materials says it will use the new funding to expand operations through partnerships into the U.S. and Europe

Cyclic Materials, a Kingston, Ont.-based advanced metals recycling company, has raised US$53 million ($71.5 million) in a Series B funding round.

Cyclic will use this new capital to build its first rare earth recycling facilities in the U.S. and Europe. The recycler is also looking to grow its team to support its operations.

The funding round, announced Sept. 25, was led by ArcTern Ventures, with additional new investors including BDC Capital’s Climate Tech Fund, Hitachi Ventures, Zero Infinity Partners, Climate Investment and Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund.

It was also supported by Cyclic’s other existing investors: Fifth Wall, BMW i Ventures, Energy Impact Partners and Planetary Technologies.

“Cyclic Materials’ mission-driven approach to the circular economy combined with its proprietary rare earth metals recycling processes offers a scalable decarbonization solution that contributes to the abatement of greenhouse gas emissions,” says Marc Faucher, managing partner at ArcTern Ventures, in a press note.

“This alignment with our impact-driven investment strategy is why we chose them to become a part of ArcTern’s investment portfolio.” 

Meanwhile, Tobias Jahn, partner at Hitachi Ventures, highlights Cyclic’s unique potential in the market.

“We are impressed with [Cyclic’s] high growth potential…and commitment to overcoming the limited availability of rare earth elements essential for various technologies in today’s electrification era,” he says.

Expanding operations

Founded in 2021, Cyclic’s goal is to create a circular supply chain for rare earth elements and other materials needed for the electrification and energy transition.

This latest funding round brings the company’s total equity raised to over US$83 million.

To date, Cyclic’s focus was establishing itself in Canada, “where we keep on consolidating our presence with our commercial demonstration facility,” says Ahmad Ghahreman, CEO, Cyclic Materials, in an email to Electric Autonomy.

But now, with more funding in hand, he says Cyclic is “assessing at a high level which [international] locations would make the most sense” for other recycling facilities.

Cyclic’s process

The Series B round closely follows a $4.9-million grant awarded by Natural Resources Canada to Cyclic earlier this month. The grant was awarded to support the operation of Cyclic’s first commercial demonstration facility, Hub100, in Kingston.

Opened earlier this year, Hub100 is the first scaled version of the company’s hydrometallurgical technology: REEPure.

To create its product, Cyclic’s production model consists of a two-step process for recycling rare earth elements from magnets.

“It begins at a plant where magnets from end-of-life products are separated by leveraging Cyclic’s MagCycle technology,” explains Ghahreman.

That material moves to a hydrometallurgical facility. There, Cyclic uses its proprietary chemical process to extract raw materials that make new magnets.

The end product sold back into the market is rMREO.

The approach, claims Cyclic, provides significant environmental benefits compared to traditional mining. These include lower carbon emissions and reduced water use.

It also represents a new source of rare earth materials in a global market dominated by Chinese producers.

Hub100 has the capacity to recycle 100 tonnes of magnetic material annually, producing recycled mixed rare earth oxides (rMREO).

Per a new offtake agreement signed in June, the rMREO from the facility will go to Solvay, a Brussels-based rare earth chemicals producer. Shipments are set to begin in late 2024.

Global partnerships

In addition to Solvay agreement, Cyclic holds several other partnership deals “with major players in the global industry.”

In collaboration with Synetiq, a UK-headquartered vehicle salvage and recycling company, Cyclic is working on recycling electric motors containing rare earth elements. To do this, Synetiq will supply Cyclic with drive motors from hybrid and electric vehicles, as well as auxiliary motors found in all types of vehicles.

Cyclic is also partnering with Vattenfall, a Swedish energy company, and Vacuumschmelze, a German advanced magnet solutions manufacturer. Both partnerships will “recycle magnets containing REEs and establish a circular supply chain.”

“Global demand for recycled rare earth elements (REEs) has never been higher,” says Ghahreman.

“Our growth trajectory is designed to accompany [our partners] wherever they need us.”