Italy's Circular Materials raises €11.8M to recover critical metals from wastewater

Circular Materials, an Italian cleantech company based in Cadoneghe, has raised €11.8 million through a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) to expand its technology for recovering critical and strategic raw materials from industrial wastewater.

The round drew backing from a group of European institutional and strategic investors, including CDP Venture Capital, the European Innovation Council Fund, EIT RawMaterials, 360 Capital, Corbites and Lumar S.r.l. According to EU-Startups, the transaction was supported by the independent law firm BonelliErede.

Founded in 2019, the company has developed a process that treats industrial wastewater carrying dissolved metals and extracts secondary raw materials that can be returned to industrial supply chains. Its Supercritical Water Precipitation (SWaP) technology is designed to recover more than 99 percent of dissolved metals from complex wastewater streams while cutting the amount of hazardous sludge produced.