Devon clean tech firm raises £9.5m to fund growth
Devon based Altium has raised £9.5m to help fund its growth in the clean technology market.
SQM Lithium Ventures has announced a follow-on investment of $9.43 million in Altilium bringing its total investment to $12m.
The investment completes Altilium’s Series A funding round and marks the largest investment to date for SQM Lithium Ventures, the corporate venture arm of the lithium business of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM), one of the world’s leading producers of battery-grade lithium.
The additional funding follows a year of strong progress in the scaling up of Altilium’s battery recycling technology and underscores both companies’ commitment to developing a circular economy for sustainable and low carbon battery materials.
SQM Lithium Ventures made an initial investment of $2.57m in Altilium last year.
Since then the company has hit a number of key development milestones, including the expansion of its UK recycling facilities, enhancement of its proprietary EcoCathode hydrometallurgical process and strengthening of its senior management team.
The new funding will accelerate the scale-up of Altilium’s UK and European activities, paving the way for the roll-out of the company’s full battery circularity customer offering.
Key developments for 2024 will include a new 18,000-square-foot facility in Plymouth.
The facility is due to begin operations mid 2024, processing significant volumes of battery precursors and cathode active materials for qualification with automakers and cell manufacturers.
Altilium president and chief operations officer Dr Christian Marston said: “We are delighted to continue our relationship with SQM and excited about the journey ahead as we build a UK and European leader in battery recycling.
“We are immensely grateful for their belief in our business and our shared vision for achieving the lowest carbon footprint in battery raw materials.”
