Li-Cycle
- π¦Became a unicornAug 2021
- πPeak valuation$1.67 Billion β21
- πBecame a UnitardMay 2025
- πΈLast valuationWiped out
Total raised averaged per day over approximately 8.9 years from founding to bankruptcy or shutdown. This is not measured cash burn. Methodology
The rise & fall
6 moments Β· 2016β2025The key moments.
How it happened
Li-Cycle, founded near Toronto in 2016 by Ajay Kochhar and Tim Johnston, built a network to recycle lithium-ion batteries and went public on the NYSE in August 2021 through a SPAC merger with Peridot Acquisition Corp at about a $1.67B pro-forma equity value, peaking above $2B in early trading.
Costs at its flagship Rochester, New York refinery ballooned from about $485M toward $1B, halting construction and stranding a conditional $475M U.S. Department of Energy loan. Li-Cycle filed for CCAA creditor protection in Canada, with Chapter 15 in New York, in May 2025. That August its largest secured lender, Glencore, acquired the operating assets through a court-supervised credit bid, wiping out common equity.
Glassdoor reviews flagged recurring safety and planning concerns, and by 2025 employees were describing successive layoffs and leaders disconnected from the plants amid the company's financial distress.
Employee accounts paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor β. See our methodology.
Source: BusinessWire (Aug 10, 2021): SPAC merger with Peridot Acquisition Corp plus a $315M PIPE, ~$1.67B pro-forma equity value at announcement (~$1.55B at close), NYSE: LICY; shares peaked above $2B in early trading. Mining.com: Rochester Hub budget rose from ~$485M toward ~$960M. Fastmarkets: the $475M U.S. Department of Energy loan closed Nov 7, 2024 but was never usable. Company / Ontario Superior Court (May 14, 2025): CCAA filing plus Chapter 15 in New York. BusinessWire (Aug 7, 2025): Glencore completed a credit-bid acquisition of the operating business, extinguishing common equity (now LICYQ). Founded 2016 by Ajay Kochhar and Tim Johnston.
Where they went
- Ajay Kochharco-founder, president & CEOHead of Glencore Battery Recycling at Glencore
- Tim Johnstonco-founder & executive chairmanExecutive Chair at Clean Lifecycle Network (CLN)
Current roles as self-reported on LinkedIn, retrieved 2026-10-13. See our methodology.
Disclosed investors (12)
Historical funding participation; lists may be incomplete and do not establish current ownership or investor losses.
* Lead in a funding round Β· Crunchbase β Β· 2026-10-13 Β· Methodology Β· Leaderboard
