EIT InnoEnergy and Demeter launch €500m European battery raw materials fund
18 January 2024, Davos: EIT InnoEnergy, the leading innovation engine in sustainable energy; and Demeter Investment Managers, a major European private equity and venture capital firm; today announced the launch of a fund dedicated to the development of a resilient and diverse battery raw material supply chain for Europe.
With a target size of €500 million, the ‘EBA Strategic Battery Materials Fund’ (EBA Materials Fund or the “Fund”) builds upon the success of the European Battery Alliance (EBA250) in its mission to create a resilient European battery industry. The fund is launched amidst soaring European demand for batteries which is exposing significant gaps in the upstream (mining, processing) of the EU’s battery material supply chain. In line with the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) requirements to decrease the EU’s overreliance on foreign supply, the fund aims to boost domestic capacities for strategic battery materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and graphite.