Nth Cycle has developed on-site technology to refine and recycle rare metals, enabling customers to process materials without carbon-heavy smelting. Its system cuts out overseas shipping for refining and recycling, addressing a supply-chain bottleneck where about 85% of rare metal processing occurs in China, per the U.S. Department of Commerce. Co-founder and CEO Megan O’Connor says speeding up material recovery from both mining and end-of-life products is critical to meeting clean-energy goals. The company’s tech targets use cases across electric vehicles as well as energy, defense and other industries. Nth Cycle announced a $44 million Series B that includes $37 million in equity led by VoLo Earth Ventures and participation from MM Catalyst Fund I and Caterpillar’s venture arm, plus $7 million in nondilutive government grants. The company previously participated in TechCrunch Battlefield. Nth Cycle is a metal processing technology company led by CEO Megan O’Connor and based in Boston, MA. It develops customizable, clean electro-extraction technology that installs onsite at recyclers and miners to recover critical minerals from separated e-waste and low-grade mine tailings. The company positions its technology within the critical mineral supply chain for electric vehicles, solar power, and energy storage, supporting recycling, mining and refining. Nth Cycle plans to deploy its first commercial units at recycling facilities in 2022. It also intends to expand its technical and development staff in 2022 to support commercial deployments. The company raised a $12.5M Series A to fund these deployments and growth initiatives. Nth Cycle builds an electro-extraction process that recovers cobalt and other production‑grade critical minerals from discarded batteries, e-waste, low‑grade ore and mine tailings using only electricity and carbon filters. The technology is positioned as a cleaner, lower‑cost alternative to conventional pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy. Nth Cycle’s technology was developed at Harvard University and Yale University. The company recently opened new operations in the Boston area and has seen extensive interest from battery recyclers, mine operators, auto OEMs, micro‑mobility companies and battery manufacturers. Nth Cycle says it will use funding to execute its technology roadmap and deploy several pilot projects with recyclers and mine operators early next year. Company leadership frames the approach as expanding a circular supply chain for critical minerals and potentially mitigating significant CO2e emissions over coming decades.

Total raised

$60M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Series B

Latest activity

Dec 2023