Back to Battery receives €350,000 from UNIIQ through proof-of-concept funding
Circular battery recycling strengthens innovation in South Holland and Europe
Back to Battery, based in Delft, receives a €350,000 loan through UNIIQ’s proof-of-concept funding scheme. With this capital, the startup will build a bench-scale pilot plant to validate its circular battery recycling technology. The announcement was made during a working visit with regional partners – Province of South Holland, RVO, and Port of Rotterdam.
Thanks to this investment – made possible by extra contributions from regional partners such as RVO, Province of South Holland, the municipality of Leiden, and the municipality of Rotterdam – Back to Battery can further develop and scale up its unique technology for recycling lithium-ion batteries.
Smart and clean recycling from Delft
Back to Battery recovers valuable materials, such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, from old batteries. They do this in a clean and smart way, without waste and with little energy and few harmful chemicals. This allows them to make new battery materials that are just as good as new (‘virgin’) materials. This not only helps the environment, but also makes the European battery supply chain less dependent on China.
Innovation for a sustainable future
The demand for batteries and raw materials is growing rapidly due to the energy transition. EoL (end-of-life) batteries are an important source of valuable materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. Instead of extracting these materials from the earth, we can recover them from old batteries. Back to Battery shows that local reuse of battery materials is possible and contributes to a stronger and more sustainable battery ecosystem in South Holland and Europe.
“We want to show that battery recycling can be not only cleaner, but also smarter. Thanks to this investment, we can scale up our technology and prove that local reuse of battery materials is achievable.”
– Steven Lans, co-founder and CEO of Back to Battery.
Investment from the proof-of-concept funding scheme and other sources
The investment comes from UNIIQ’s proof-of-concept funding scheme, which is a loan for innovative startups who want to test and further develop their ideas. This financing instrument is part of the funding toolkit of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate; RVO and UNIIQ are implementing it. The fund is supported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, RVO, Province of South Holland, and regional knowledge institutions. Thanks to an extra contribution from RVO and other partners, more money is now available for innovative companies in South Holland.
Collaboration and next steps
Back to Battery works together with partners such as InnovationQuarter, Province of South Holland, TU Delft, and the Battery Competence Cluster – NL to continue growing. The company is now producing test samples to share with potential customers and is exploring where to build its first production line as a starting point for further growth and expansion, to process the rapidly increasing stream of discarded batteries in a fully circular and sustainable way.
“Back to Battery is a great example of entrepreneurship. The founders identified a gap in the European battery supply chain based on their own experience and vision, and acted on it by simply doing it themselves. This shows courage and ambition! With this loan, we help them bring their technology to market and contribute to a more sustainable Europe.”
– Jasper Geselschap, Fund Manager at UNIIQ.
About UNIIQ
UNIIQ is a €50 million proof-of-concept fund that helps entrepreneurs in Zuid-Holland bring unique innovations to market. The fund provides academic spin-offs and innovative startups with the seed capital and strategic coaching needed to bridge the riskiest phase — from concept to promising company. Over 60% of UNIIQ-backed startups have already secured follow-on funding, collectively raising over €275 million. UNIIQ is made possible by Erasmus MC, TU Delft, Leiden University, Erasmus University, InnovationQuarter, the European Union, the Province of Zuid-Holland, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), TNO, and the municipalities of Rotterdam, The Hague, and Leiden. InnovationQuarter acts as the fund manager of UNIIQ.
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