Circular Materials, a Cadoneghe-based scale-up focused on recovering critical and strategic raw materials from industrial wastewater, has secured €11.8 million in Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) financing from a group of European institutional and strategic investors. The investors include CDP Venture Capital, the European Innovation Council Fund, EIT RawMaterials,
Rahul Raj
Circular Materials, a Cadoneghe-based scale-up focused on recovering critical and strategic raw materials from industrial wastewater, has secured €11.8 million in Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) financing from a group of European institutional and strategic investors.
The investors include CDP Venture Capital, the European Innovation Council Fund, EIT RawMaterials, 360 Capital, Corbites, and Lumar S.r.l., with the operation being supported by independent law firm BonelliErede.
“Europe faces a dual challenge of securing access to critical raw materials while reducing the environmental impact of industrial processes. Wastewater is not simply waste, but a highly valuable and often untapped resource. Our focus remains on building the infrastructure needed to recover valuable materials, support industrial competitiveness, and contribute to more circular supply chains,” said Marco Bersani, Chief Executive Officer of Circular Materials.
Founded in 2019, Circular Materials has developed a process that treats industrial wastewater containing dissolved metals and recovers valuable secondary raw materials that can be reintroduced into industrial supply chains.
The company states that industrial wastewater generated by sectors including metal surface treatment, electroplating, battery recycling and chemical manufacturing often contains significant quantities of dissolved metals. It notes that conventional treatment methods typically remove contaminants but do not recover the underlying material value.
Circular Materials claims that its patented Supercritical Water Precipitation (SWaP™) technology is designed to recover more than 99% of dissolved metals from complex industrial wastewater streams while reducing the generation of hazardous sludge.
Circular Materials’ model integrates wastewater treatment with the recovery and valorisation of raw materials. This allows the company, in certain cases, to reintroduce recovered materials into customer supply chains, while in others, it commercialises these materials for use in different industrial applications.
The Italian firm highlights that it addresses a growing challenge facing European industry: the loss of strategic metals through wastewater treatment processes and the increasing need for more resilient sources of critical raw materials.
Circular Materials currently operates its first industrial facility in Padua. Earlier this year, the facility achieved End-of-Waste status under the EU Waste Framework Directive, enabling materials recovered through the process to re-enter industrial supply chains as secondary raw materials.
In 2025, the company involved in the RECOVER-IT project was also chosen under the European Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA). According to Circular Materials, this reflects the growing importance of domestic resource recovery in strengthening European supply chain resilience.
The company plans to use this capital to support its next phase of growth as it moves from industrial validation towards broader commercial deployment of its recovery platform. Proceeds will primarily be used to advance the development of its next Circular Materials Hub in Ferrara, strengthen operational capabilities, and support the continued scale-up of its SWaP™ technology. Circular Materials notes that the upcoming Ferrara facility is projected to greatly increase its treatment capacity.
