Li-Cycle recycles lithium-ion batteries to recover critical materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. As the world produces billions of batteries for EVs, phones, and laptops, someone needs to figure out what happens when those batteries die. Li-Cycle is building the answer — a two-step recycling process that recovers 95% of battery materials. The company went public via SPAC, then hit major construction delays at its flagship plant. The sustainability mission is real. The execution has been painful.
Founded
2016
HQ
Toronto, Canada
Total Raised
$700 million
Founder
Ajay Kochhar, Tim Johnston
Status
Public (NYSE: LICY)
Website
li-cycle.comTHE ORIGIN STORY
Ajay Kochhar and Tim Johnston, both with backgrounds in mining and battery materials, saw that the world was about to face a massive lithium-ion battery waste problem. Billions of batteries would reach end-of-life in the coming decades, and existing recycling methods were dirty, expensive, and inefficient.
They founded Li-Cycle in 2016 to build a cleaner, more efficient recycling process. Their "Spoke & Hub" model collects and pre-processes batteries at distributed Spoke facilities, then sends the concentrated materials (called "black mass") to a central Hub for final processing.
WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DO
Revenue from selling recovered battery materials (lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, copper) to battery manufacturers and commodity markets. Also earns fees for accepting end-of-life batteries from manufacturers.
The circular economy model creates value on both ends — companies pay Li-Cycle to take their old batteries, and Li-Cycle sells the recovered materials.
THE PRODUCTS
Spoke Facilities (battery pre-processing — shredding and separation). Hub Facility (hydrometallurgical processing to recover pure materials).
Recovery of lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, copper, and graphite. 95% materials recovery rate.
Partnerships with OEMs for end-of-life battery management.
HOW THEY GREW
Scaling through partnerships and geographic expansion. Li-Cycle opened Spoke facilities in Ontario, Arizona, Alabama, and Germany.
Partnerships with Ultium Cells (GM/LG), Glencore, and other battery manufacturers provide both feedstock and offtake agreements. The company went public via SPAC in 2021 to fund its Rochester Hub — a massive central processing facility.
THE HARD PART
The Rochester Hub construction delays and cost overruns. Li-Cycle's flagship Hub facility in Rochester, New York was supposed to be the company's crown jewel.
Instead, costs ballooned from $485 million to $960 million, and construction was paused in 2023. The company had to restructure financially and find additional funding.
The delays raised serious questions about management's ability to execute at scale.
MONEY TRAIL
Series B
2020 · Led by Various
$50M raised
SPAC IPO
2021 · Led by Peridot Acquisition Corp
$615M raised
$1.7B valuation
Additional
2023 · Led by DOE Loan Program
$0 raised
WHO BACKED THEM
Went public via SPAC merger in 2021. Partnership with Glencore (global commodity trading giant).
Koch Strategic Platforms invested. Also received funding from the US Department of Energy loan program.
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