R3 Robotics (formerly CircuLi-ion), a Luxembourg-based robotics company from the EIC Scaling Club's Batteries & Energy Storage market group, has secured €20 million in combined financing to industrialise automated disassembly of electric vehicle (EV) systems. The package includes a €14 million Series A round and €6 million in public grants, announced on 5 February 2026.

The funding comes with a clear strategic shift. With its rebrand to R3 Robotics, the company is expanding beyond battery disassembly to automated dismantling of complete EV systems, including e-drives, power electronics and other high-value components. The name signals the ambition: Repair, Reuse, Recycle, enabled by industrial robotics.

Why disassembly is the bottleneck

As electrification accelerates across mobility and energy, end-of-life volumes of complex components are set to rise. Yet disassembly remains largely manual: labour-intensive, costly, difficult to scale, and often risky due to high-voltage systems. Without safe, efficient dismantling, even advanced recycling processes struggle to access clean, well-sorted feedstock.

R3 Robotics is tackling this bottleneck with a platform designed for repeatable, high-throughput operation in industrial environments. The goal is to turn end-of-life EV systems into a reliable source of reusable parts and critical raw materials, strengthening Europe’s resilience in strategic value chains.

From AI-powered vision to industrial throughput

R3 Robotics’ system combines computer vision, artificial intelligence and specialised robotic tooling to automate the disassembly of lithium-ion battery packs and other electrified components. By reducing direct human exposure to high-voltage hazards and standardising complex dismantling steps, the company aims to deliver the reliability and cost structure needed for large-scale deployment.

The company is working with Fortum Battery Recycling to deploy automated dismantling at industrial scale, spanning stages of the European battery recycling value chain from collection and pre-treatment through to refining. In parallel, R3 Robotics also works directly with automotive original equipment manufacturers, processing end-of-life systems through centralised dismantling infrastructure.

Scaling in Europe, preparing for the United States

The Series A and grants will support four priorities:

• expanding the team across engineering, artificial intelligence, software and operations;
• scaling deployments with industrial recyclers and automotive partners across Europe;
• increasing capacity at facilities in Karlsruhe and Luxembourg, including the Karlsruhe lighthouse site;
• preparing for United States market entry in 2026 through commercial groundwork and strategic partnerships.

To support its next phase, R3 Robotics has also appointed Peter Mohnen, former chief executive officer of KUKA, to its advisory board.

What this signals for European scaling

R3 Robotics’ progress is a strong example of how deep-tech scale-up connects industrial automation with circular economy goals. Automated disassembly is not only a technical challenge; it is enabling infrastructure for Europe’s ability to recover materials, secure supply chains and build industrial capacity around electrification.

We look forward to following R3 Robotics’ next milestones as it scales deployments and accelerates industrial impact across Europe and beyond.

About the EIC Scaling Club

The EIC Scaling Club is a curated community where 120 European deep tech scale-ups with the potential to build world-class businesses and solve major global challenges come together with investors, corporate innovators and other industry stakeholders to spur growth.

The top 120 European deep tech companies have been carefully selected from a pool of high-growth scale-ups that have benefitted from EIC financial schemes, other European and national innovation programmes, and beyond.

The EIC Scaling Club is an EIC-funded initiative run in partnership by Tech Tour, Bpifrance (EuroQuity), Hello Tomorrow, Tech.eu (Webrazzi), EurA and IESE Business School.

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