Bosch Ventures, the venture capital division of the world’s largest automotive parts company, Bosch, is making significant investments in two battery recycling ventures while also partnering with Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer VinFast in Europe.
Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH, known as Bosch Ventures, specializes in funding innovative startups in sectors such as automation, electrification, energy efficiency, and medical systems. As a subsidiary of the Bosch Group, which employs over 429,000 people and reported sales of €91.6 billion (approximately KRW 135 trillion) in 2023, Bosch Ventures is leveraging its resources to drive technological advancements.
Major Investments in Battery Recycling
According to EV Report, Bosch Ventures has recently announced substantial investments in the battery recycling sector. The firm led a €55 million (approximately KRW 80.8 billion) funding round for German startup Cylib and invested $36 million (approximately KRW 48.6 billion) in the U.S. company Li Industries.
Cylib, established in 2022, has quickly become a leader in comprehensive lithium-ion battery recycling technology. By partnering with major automotive OEMs and battery manufacturers, Cylib efficiently recovers valuable materials such as lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, and manganese.
This funding round is the largest ever proposed by a European battery recycling company and was completed in less than two years since Cylib’s inception. The investment will support the industrialization of Cylib’s proprietary technology, which is already being used by major OEMs and battery manufacturers, by expanding operations at an existing industrial facility in Germany.
Cylib’s process is recognized as the world’s leading battery recycling technology, capable of recycling all components of lithium-ion batteries. This makes Cylib one of the few companies offering complete recycling solutions for production scrap, EV batteries, and micro-mobility batteries. The company achieves a recycling efficiency of over 90% and reduces the environmental footprint of its process by 30% through aqueous lithium and graphite recovery compared to competitors.
Meanwhile, Bosch Ventures’ investment in Li Industries marks the firm’s commitment to sustainable battery recycling technology. Li Industries, the first and only company in the U.S. to economically and sustainably recycle low-cobalt batteries like lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, employs its unique Direct E2ETM recycling technology.
This funding round, co-led by Bosch Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and LG Tech Ventures, will finance the construction of a 10,000-ton recycling facility based on Li Industries’ proprietary technology. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Pineville, North Carolina, Li Industries is a climate-tech company developing next-generation lithium-ion battery recycling technology for EVs and consumer electronics.
VinFast and Bosch Expand EV Charging Network in Europe
In addition to its investments in battery recycling, Bosch has partnered with VinFast to establish a comprehensive EV charging network in Europe. Through this collaboration, VinFast’s European customers will have access to 700,000 charging points across 30 countries.
Building on two years of successful collaboration in North America, Bosch expanded the partnership to Europe. Martin Knoss, Vice President of Bosch ASEAN, stated, “Most EV drivers rely on public charging infrastructure. Bosch has continuously expanded its global network, increasing it sixfold since 2020. Through this partnership, we will be able to accommodate VinFast customers across Europe and support them with a total of 850,000 charging ports by the end of 2024.”
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