UCD spin-out Licovolt to create 10 jobs after securing seed investment for battery recycling technology.
Dublin-based battery recycling company Licovolt is set to create 10 new jobs over the next two years following a seed investment from Davencor Holdings, the company announced today.
The University College Dublin spin-out, supported by NovaUCD, has developed innovative technology to extract critical minerals from spent battery material at a fraction of the cost and emissions of current methods. The undisclosed investment comes from Davencor Holdings, established by John Corcoran, founder and former CEO of Davenham Switchgear.
“Licovolt represents a really exciting opportunity in the field of battery recycling. The team’s innovative approach and very strong technical foundation positions them well for significant growth in this evolving market”
Davenham, founded in 1982 and headquartered in Dublin, is a market leader in electrical distribution and control solutions for major industries, including datacentres. The company was acquired last year by France-based Legrand Group.
Charging ahead
“This investment by Davencor Holdings will enable the company to rapidly advance our strategic technology development roadmap to ensure that business development opportunities are grasped quickly given the scale of the global opportunity for Licovolt’s technology,” said Clint Zahmel, executive director of Licovolt.
The new positions will be created in international business development, finance, chemical engineering and battery innovation, Zahmel added.
Licovolt’s technology addresses a significant market opportunity in the recycling of battery systems used in datacentres and electric vehicles. The company’s novel chemical compound and associated process enables the recycling of critical minerals needed for cathode active material (CAM) production.
“It is estimated that datacentres worldwide will need to recycle up to 2m Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) battery systems over the next five years, and given John’s deep understanding of the electrical and datacentre industries, together with his proven track record of building successful businesses internationally, makes him an invaluable partner as we develop and implement our international scaling strategy,” Zahmel explained.
John Corcoran, CEO of Davencor Holdings, expressed confidence in the investment opportunity. “Licovolt represents a really exciting opportunity in the field of battery recycling. The team’s innovative approach and very strong technical foundation positions them well for significant growth in this evolving market.”
The Licovolt technology emerged from three years of intensive research, partly funded by Research Ireland, following a breakthrough chemical discovery led by Associate Professor Tony Keene from UCD School of Chemistry, working in partnership with Associate Professor Steven Ferguson from UCD School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering. Both academics are co-founders of the company.
Earlier this year, Licovolt entered into a formal joint development agreement with Pure Battery Technologies (PBT), which is headquartered in Australia with operations in Hagen, Germany. This partnership will support the rapid advancement of Licovolt’s technology development.
Image at top: Clint Zahmel, executive director of Licovolt
-
Bank of Ireland is welcoming new customers every day – funding investments, working capital and expansions across multiple sectors. To learn more, click here
-
For support in challenging times, click here
-
Listen to the ThinkBusiness Podcast for business insights and inspiration. All episodes are here. You can also listen to the Podcast on:
-
Spotify
-
SoundCloud
-
Apple
