Metycle trading platform receives funding boost

Cologne, Germany-based Metycle, a digital platform for recycled metals processing and trading, says it has closed on a $14.7 million Series A funding round.

The company says it will use the new funds to develop its data, software and artificial intelligence (AI) “backbone” for the metal recycling industry.

“Metal recycling is crucial for the transition to a carbon-neutral world,” says Rafael Suchan, co-founder of Metycle. “Recycling does not only ensure circularity of metals but also helps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up 95 percent compared to primary metal production.”

Suchan add, “Today, already more than one-third of global metal production is based on recycled metals, and Metycle makes the global metal recycling industry more efficient and transparent with the help of state-of-the-art technology.”

Companies involved in the funding round include Europe-based venture capital (VC) firm 2150 along with DFF Ventures, Market One Capital, Partech and Project A.

“Our platform is revolutionizing how secondary metals are traded globally,” says Sebastian Brenner, the firm’s other co-founder. “By rolling out Metycle’s AI-based sorting and quality certification, we’re creating unprecedented transparency and trust in the metal recycling industry.”

“We were blown away by these incredible entrepreneurs,” says Rahul Parekh, a partner at 2150. “Rafael and Sebastian are outstanding operators and we believe there is no one better placed than them to enable a circular economy for industrial metals and unlock the potential of urban mines.”

Philipp Werner, a partner at Berlin-based VC firm Project A, says, “Since leading their seed [funding] round, we continue to be impressed by the Metycle team's exceptional execution, as evidenced by their impressive commercial success. We are pleased that this new round of financing enables them to deepen their smart sorting strategy and increase transparency, advancing the industry towards circularity.”

Among the challenges Metcyle says it intends to meet is what it calls a rising demand for high-quality scrap that outpaces supply, with a 15 million metric ton deficit of such grades anticipated by 2030, according to the firm.

Metycle, which was founded in 2022, says its proprietary AI-powered sorting process “determines the physical and chemical properties of shredded recyclable metals in real-time, representing a significant reduction in manual labor and CO₂ emissions as well as improved recycling ratios and material recovery.”

The firm says its ability “to integrate market data alongside this sorting process” into the Metycle digital platform “enables those products with the highest demand to be identified from the outset, ensuring better resource allocation.”

The company says its Smart Sorting Hubs will be able to produce “more efficient, direct routes for these materials so that where possible they can remain within the local region.”

With the new investment funding in hand, Metycle says it intends to “roll out” its AI-powered sorting, quality control and certification system. According to Metycle, that will then lead to the expansion of its global trading network and market presence.