Econili Battery New Energy, a Malaysian lithium-ion battery recycler, has raised new capital from Vynn Capital, a venture firm focused on mobility, travel, and supply chains, increasing the total funding to MYR8 million ($1.96 million).
In a statement on Tuesday, Vynn Capital said the investment followed an earlier round led by Kumpulan Modal Perdana, the state-owned technology investor. The new funding will be used as working capital to buy more feedstock, so Econili can run its existing plants at higher throughput.
Econili, among the lithium-ion battery recyclers in Malaysia, operates a battery recycling and black-mass refinery in Perak. Its plants have a capacity for 24,000 metric tons of battery treatment and 12,000 metric tonnes of critical-mineral recovery.
They can recover lithium, nickel, and cobalt from end-of-life batteries and production scrap, in order to make the cathode material serving batteries of electric vehicles energy storage systems. It can supply these materials to tier-one global supply chains at operating costs 30 to 50 percent below those of Western peers, Econili said.
Econili is one of five licensed battery-recycling operators in Malaysia compliant with the Department of Environment’s SW103 protocol. It aims to make Malaysia a black-mass processing hub that secures critical materials for Asia’s battery value chain.
Dr Jayden Goh, founder and CEO of Econili, said the company is looking for strategic opportunities and bringing outside investment into Malaysia. He said the company is positioning the country as a hub for sustainable battery recycling.
Victor Chua, founding and managing partner of Vynn Capital, said the firm sees Econili as a company that can build solutions with impact at scale, particularly across the mobility ecosystem. Vynn plans to partner with it as it builds from Malaysia toward a larger regional opportunity.
Econili was founded in 2014. The company’s Ipoh plant launched in May 2024 with a first-phase investment of about MYR50 million. It plans a second phase in Gopeng, Perak.