Rare earth recycler Cyclic Materials secures $53m funding from Microsoft, BDC

Ontario-based recycling company Cyclic Materials, aiming to create a circular supply chain for rare earth elements (REEs) and other critical materials, announced Wednesday it has successfully closed an oversubscribed $53 million Series B equity round.

The funding round was led by ArcTern Ventures and supported by BDC Capital’s Climate Tech Fund, Hitachi Ventures, Zero Infinity Partners, Climate Investment and Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund. Existing investors Fifth Wall, BMW i Ventures, Energy Impact Partners and Planetary Technologies also participated in the round.

The funding brings total equity raised to over $83 million and will enable it to fast-track its international growth, the company said in a news release.

Established in 2021, Cyclic Materials said its proprietary technologies are capable of economically and sustainably recovering critical raw materials from end-of-life electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, MRI machines and data center electronic waste.

Over the past year, the company has forged partnerships with industry players Solvay, Vattenfall, Synetiq and VACUUMSCHMELZE to recycle magnets containing REEs and establish a circular supply chain.

Cyclic will deploy the capital to build rare earth recycling infrastructure in the US and Europe, and grow its team to support its operations. The company said its process of recycling these rare earth materials from magnets achieves significant environmental benefits in comparison to traditional mining processes, including a reduced carbon footprint and water efficiency.

“This funding underscores the confidence in our ability to create the circular economy for rare earths needed for the clean energy transition,” CEO Ahmad Ghahreman said in a news release.

“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.”

The Series B funding follows a $3.6 million grant award from Natural Resources Canada that supports the continued operation of Cyclic Materials’ commercial demonstration facility (Hub100) for producing high-purity REEs from recycled magnet material and preparing for scaling to larger operations.