Jälle Technologies has successfully raised €2 million in pre-seed funding to advance their mission of transforming end-of-life lithium-ion batteries into critical raw materials. This investment will help them expand production, validate our proprietary technology at scale, and grow the team in Estonia.
Europe is facing a massive battery recycling challenge. By 2030, end-of-life lithium-ion battery volumes are expected to exceed 230 kilotonnes annually—a 70-fold increase over 2020 levels. New EU regulations require at least 70% recycling efficiency for these batteries, pushing the industry to adopt more advanced and sustainable technologies.
At Jälle, they’re tackling this challenge with a science-driven approach. The team—Kerli Liivand, Martin Jantson, Reio Praats, Erki Ani, and Ivar Kruusenberg—has built on years of research at the National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics in Estonia to develop proprietary recycling processes. These enable the efficient recovery of critical metals and the upcycling of typically discarded graphite waste into high-value graphene-like materials.
Few-layer graphene-based materials are among the world’s thinnest known materials, celebrated for their exceptional strength, conductivity, and flexibility. This makes them valuable for advanced applications in composites, coatings, electronics, and energy storage.
The pre-seed round combines competitive grant support from Enterprise Estonia (EIS) and the Environmental Investment Centre (KIK) with early-stage equity investments from Kiilto Ventures, 2C Ventures, and experienced angel investors Andrus Purde and Priit Viru. This diverse group brings together sustainability expertise, commercial insight, and strategic support to help Jälle scale and deliver on their mission.
Erki Ani, CEO of Jälle Technologies:“While the whole world is geared towards electrification, energy storage needs are inevitably on the rise. What happens with these batteries once they’ve reached end of life? With Jälle we are looking a few steps ahead of the curve to be ready for the tidal wave of dead batteries. By achieving very high battery recycling efficiencies and enabling advanced applications through our graphene-like materials, we contribute to addressing Europe’s critical raw materials challenge. We’re extremely glad to have investors who share our vision. It’s not just about funding, it’s about working together to take our technology from the lab to industry.”
Kerli Liivand, CTO of Jälle Technologies:“Recovering critical materials at scale is a real challenge. Our focus is on making sure what we build isn’t just great science but something the industry can rely on. Producing graphene-like materials could improve everything from composites to construction, making materials stronger, lighter, more conductive, and more efficient.”
Matti Rönkkö, Managing Partner at Kiilto Ventures:“Jälle Technologies’ vision to turn battery waste into valuable resources through cutting-edge recycling is exactly the kind of scalable, sustainability-driven innovation we want to champion.”
Hendrik Reimand, Founding Partner at 2C Ventures:“Battery recycling is no longer optional. Jälle’s team combines deep technical expertise with a clear commercialization strategy, making them exactly the type of founder-led, high-impact company we strive to support from our fund.”
Angel investors Andrus Purde and Priit Viru also bring significant experience. Purde is a seasoned entrepreneur and marketer, known for co-founding Outfunnel, while Viru has a background in tech and finance with extensive experience in executive leadership and growth strategies.
With this new funding, Jälle Technologies will focus on expanding pilot-scale production, validating their recycling processes at industrial scale, and building a world-class team in Estonia.
