December 15, 2021 | Portfolio news
Freestone Announces Closing of Growth Financing for Momentum Technologies
DALLAS – December 15, 2021 – Freestone HoldCo, LLC ("Freestone"), a portfolio company of Tailwater Capital LLC ("Tailwater"), today announced that it has signed definitive agreements to lead a $20 million investment in Momentum Technologies ("Momentum" or the "Company"), a Dallas-based lithium-ion battery and rare earth permanent magnet recycling company.
Founded in 2016, Momentum installs and operates recycling plants for its customers at a wide range of capacities using its patented modular, scalable recycling technology, Membrane Solvent Extraction ("MSX"). MSX extracts high-purity metals from electronic or battery waste at industry-leading operating and capital costs. The process reduces total electronic waste and allows Momentum to not only install recycling capacity tailored to specific customer demand, but to build recycling plants within close proximity to its customers, significantly reducing additional transportation-related costs and emissions.
MSX was developed by the U.S. Department of Energy's Critical Materials Institute at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Halliburton Labs, the clean tech industrial accelerator of Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL), has also been a strategic partner in Momentum's plant design and commercialization efforts. The financing will be used to fund Momentum's first two battery recycling plants and the build-out of additional commercial recycling facilities in the future. The plants are expected to be fully operational at commercial scale by year end 2022.
"Sourcing sufficient critical metals to support the expected exponential growth in battery deployment in electric vehicles, handhelds and stationary power storage will require continued technological innovations in the battery supply chain," said John Schaufele, President of Freestone. "Momentum provides a cost-competitive and environmentally-friendly battery recycling solution for its customers, and we are excited to fund Momentum as the Company commercializes its technology and supports the continued evolution of the battery metals industry."
"We are pleased to partner with Freestone as we scale our business and bring our state-of-the-art process to the broader market. Their significant experience in the recycling and energy infrastructure verticals will serve as a great resource for the Company and will position us for long-term success," said Preston Bryant, CEO of Momentum. "Over the last several years, we have worked with Oak Ridge to perfect the MSX process, and we are now ready to deploy it at a commercial scale. This partnership will provide valuable financial and operational support as we enter an important new chapter of growth."
"This is an exciting transaction that further demonstrates Tailwater's commitment to investing in the most innovative and forward-looking energy infrastructure businesses," said David Cecere, Partner at Tailwater Capital. "We understand the importance of investing across the entire energy opportunity set, and Momentum provides an attractive growth infrastructure investment in two of our core areas of expertise – feedstock processing and material recycling. The exponential growth in electric vehicles will require innovative solutions in order to alleviate battery supply chain constraints while also addressing these issues in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way. Momentum's MSX process checks both of these boxes and we are excited to enter into this partnership."
The Freestone partnership marks a continuation of Tailwater's commitment to identifying and supporting companies critical to the broad transition from the conventional energy economy to a low-carbon economy emphasizing renewable energy sources and re-use and mitigation efforts. Recent representative investments from Tailwater include Frontier Carbon Solutions, a carbon sequestration service provider, and Blue Tide Environmental, a recycler and developer of finished lubricants through liquid waste upgrade technology.
For additional information, please see the Deal Memo on the Tailwater investor portal or contact Lindsay Grider, Head of Investor Relations, at 214-489-7043 or lgrider@tailwatercapital.com.
About Momentum Technologies
Based in Dallas, Momentum Technologies is a lithium-ion battery recycling company that has developed a patented modular, scalable battery recycling technology in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge National Lab, and Halliburton Labs. The Company's Membrane Solvent Extraction technology has the ability to extract high-purity metals from battery waste at significantly lower operating and capital costs than existing recycling technologies. For more information, please visit www.momentum.technology.
About Freestone
Freestone is a portfolio company of Tailwater Capital that is focused on investing in companies that specialize in disruptive infrastructure, manufacturing, support services, and technologies that enable the transition to a lower carbon economy. For more information, please visit www.freestoneac.com.