Synch is proud to have acted as legal advisor to Refinyx, a global critical materials recovery technology company, in connection with its launch following backing from Swedish investment company Qarlbo Energy and the signing of its first major U.S. customer. Founded and led by the senior team behind Northvolt Revolt, the former recycling division of Northvolt, Refinyx provides the technology and engineering that industrial operators need to build and run large-scale recovery plants.
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. The company is entering the market at a time when demand for domestic critical materials processing capacity is growing in the U.S. and other major markets, and its 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 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. 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. The company is now expanding the platform to cover rare earths, phosphorus and other strategic critical materials.
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.
"Deep tech companies in their first chapter need counsel that moves at their pace and thinks a few steps ahead of it. Synch did both throughout our round," says Dhruv Malhotra, Chief Business Officer and Co-Founder of Refinyx.
About Synch
Synch is a business-oriented law firm with innovation and technology at its heart. Our mission is to bring calm to any legal question, whatever the challenge. We do this by using our curiosity to develop a deep understanding of our clients' challenges and needs, combining our knowledge and experience with the best use of technology through advisory services and packaged solutions.
Synch acted as legal advisor to Refinyx with a team led by Andreas Börjesson and including members Olof Hultén, Mathilda Nordmark, Therese Gardström, Clara Löfgren and Mathilda Kinnerfors.
