The Engine was among the investors that helped the lithium mining process developer raise a series B round first announced last month.

Lilac Solutions, a US-based lithium extraction technology developer exploiting Northwestern University research, reached a final close of its $150m series B round on Wednesday featuring incubator and venture fund The Engine. Industrial gas producer SK Materials, conglomerate Sumitomo’s Presidio Ventures unit and BMW i Ventures, the venture capital firm formed by automotive manufacturer BMW, also took part in the round, as did MCJ Collective and Earthshot Ventures. The round was first disclosed last month with the same figure and the involvement of The Engine. It was co-led by Lowercarbon Capital and accounts advised by T Rowe Price. The round further included commodity trading firm Mercuria Energy Trading, Valor Equity Partners and Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Founded in 2016, Lilac has created ion exchange technology that helps ramp up lithium mining from brine sources as an alternative to the conventional production methods, the latter of which have a lower yield and a more negative impact on the environment. The cash will be used to increase production of the company’s ion exchange beads and hire engineers and field operators as it looks to expand its presence globally. The Engine had taken part in a $20m series A round for Lilac in February 2020 that was led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and backed by Lowercarbon Capital and Grantham Foundation. The company’s $2.5m pre-series A round was co-led by Prime Impact Fund and Tribeca Early Stage Partners in 2019 and came after $800,000 in seed funding the year before from unnamed VC firms and angel investors. – A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.

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Edison Fu

Edison Fu is a reporter and Asia liaison at Global Corporate Venturing.