Refinyx, a global critical materials recovery technology company, today announced its launch from stealth with backing from Swedish investment company Qarlbo Energy and its first major U.S. customer signed. Founded and led by the senior team behind Northvolt Revolt, the former recycling division of Northvolt, Refinyx provides technology and engineering that industrial operators need to build and run large-scale recovery plants.
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As part of its launch, Refinyx has acquired the 134-patent technology portfolio and the 13,000-square-foot (1,200-square-meter) state-of-the-art materials science pilot and lab facility in Västerås, Sweden, formerly owned by Northvolt. The company’s technology platform recovers nickel, cobalt and lithium from batteries and gigafactory waste, industrial residues and municipal waste streams.
Refinyx is launching at a time when demand for domestic critical materials processing capacity is growing in the U.S. and other major markets. The company’s model is designed to help established industrial operators deploy recovery capacity locally by providing the technology and engineering expertise needed to design, build and ramp commercial-scale plants.
The company’s technology has already demonstrated direct battery-grade output at industrial scale — without organic solvents and without the intermediate steps that force most Western recyclers to ship partially refined material to Asia for final upgrading. By eliminating conventional solvent extraction, Refinyx can reduce equipment requirements, chemical consumption, waste handling and plant footprint while enabling more modular deployment. Refinyx is now expanding the platform to cover rare earths, phosphorus and other strategic critical materials.
Co-Founders Mahmood Alemrajabi, CEO, and Ramiar Vaziri, CTO, developed the technology over eight years at Northvolt Revolt, carrying it through three successive generations and into the first industrial-scale plant built on this process design, in Skellefteå, Sweden.
“Eight years of R&D and one industrial-scale plant mean the hard part for battery materials recovery is now behind us,” said Mahmood Alemrajabi, CEO and Co-Founder of Refinyx. “The next chapter is deploying this with industrial partners globally and extending the platform to rare earths, phosphorus and other critical materials. The need is becoming increasingly urgent as the U.S., EU and other markets look to build more resilient domestic critical materials supply chains and expand local processing and recycling capacity.”
“A large part of the sector has been building its business case on three premiums the market is not going to pay long-term: a green premium, a government-subsidy premium, and a national-security premium. There is no rescue price coming. We designed Refinyx to compete on cost, quality and reliability — the way industrial companies that built the original metals refining industry competed. That is the only way circular critical materials become a real industry,” said Dhruv Malhotra, Chief Business Officer and Co-Founder of Refinyx.
Refinyx is backed by investment company Qarlbo Energy, which will take an active ownership role as the company scales to commercial deployment. Qarlbo Energy is owned by EQT founder Conni Jonsson’s investment company Qarlbo, and FAM-owned Thisbe, part of the Wallenberg Foundations’ industrial holdings.
“Access to critical raw materials is increasingly a strategic issue for both industrial competitiveness and the energy transition, and we believe Refinyx is exceptionally well positioned to help address that challenge through scalable recycling technology and deep industrial expertise. We look forward to supporting the company through its next phase of growth and international expansion, with the long-term commitment that kind of scaling requires,” said Michel Thomas, CEO, Qarlbo Energy.
About Refinyx
Refinyx is a global critical materials recovery technology company headquartered in Stockholm, with R&D and pilot operations in Västerås, Sweden. The company industrializes technology platforms that recover nickel, cobalt, lithium, rare earths and phosphorus from end-of-life batteries, industrial residues and municipal waste streams, and partners with industrial operators to design, build and ramp large-scale facilities. Refinyx.com.
About Qarlbo Energy
Qarlbo Energy is a global investment company standing at the forefront of the energy transition with a commitment to enable and create tomorrow’s energy systems — decarbonized, decentral, and digital. Together with our owners, Qarlbo and FAM-owned Thisbe, Qarlbo Energy combines active and engaged ownership with industry expertise, a global network, and access to capital — paving the way in the energy transition. Qarlbo Energy focuses on two strategic directions: Hydrogen and Decentral & Digital Energy. Find out more at qarlbo.com/investments/energy.
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