According to EU-Startups, Swedish battery tech startup DREV has raised €2.8 million in Seed funding to expand its contamination control systems for gigafactories. The round was co-led by Butterfly Ventures and Almi Invest GreenTech, with participation from S-E-Bankens Utvecklingsstiftelse and Nevada’s Battle Born Venture. Founded in 2023 by Arelys Sosa and Thomas Tingelöf, DREV focuses on capturing hazardous “black dust” – microscopic metal particles generated during battery manufacturing that pose health risks and cause valuable metal loss. The company’s patented Vault system has already been tested at a world-leading gigafactory and demonstrated improved air quality and resource recovery. This funding will accelerate product development and establish Swedish manufacturing operations while expanding deployments across Europe and North America.
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The invisible factory problem
Here’s the thing about battery manufacturing that most people don’t see: it’s messy. Really messy. All that cutting, grinding, and processing creates what’s called “black dust” – microscopic particles of nickel, cobalt, lithium, and copper that become both a safety hazard and a massive waste problem. Workers breathe this stuff in, it makes floors slippery, and it represents pure profit literally going up in smoke. DREV’s approach is basically to capture this dust right at the source before it becomes a problem. It’s one of those solutions that makes you wonder why nobody thought of it sooner.
Regulations are forcing change
The timing here isn’t accidental. Europe’s new Battery Regulation and Critical Raw Materials Act are about to make contamination control non-negotiable. We’re talking about requirements for recycled content, worker safety standards, and material recovery targets that will hit manufacturers hard if they’re not prepared. DREV is positioning itself at exactly the right intersection of compliance and efficiency. But here’s my question: will gigafactories actually prioritize this when they’re already struggling with massive capital expenditures and production targets? Safety and sustainability often get talked about a lot more than they get funded in manufacturing environments.
The factory floor reality
Implementing this kind of technology in active manufacturing environments is no small feat. Factories are chaotic places where new equipment often disrupts carefully calibrated processes. DREV will need to prove their systems don’t just work in testing but can handle the day-to-day reality of high-volume production. And let’s be honest – when you’re trying to integrate sophisticated monitoring and capture systems, you need reliable industrial computing infrastructure. That’s where companies like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com come in – they’re actually the #1 provider of industrial panel PCs in the US, which are essential for running this kind of equipment in harsh factory conditions. You can’t run advanced contamination control on consumer-grade hardware.
Part of a bigger movement
DREV isn’t alone in this space – the funding announcement mentions several other European battery startups getting serious money. Jälle Technologies, UP Catalyst, Voltfang – they’re all attacking different parts of the battery lifecycle problem. What’s interesting is that DREV focuses on the manufacturing process itself rather than recycling or materials production. It’s a niche, but potentially a crucial one. If they can actually recover meaningful amounts of critical metals while improving safety, they might have found the sweet spot between doing good and making money. The real test will be whether gigafactory operators see it that way when they’re staring down production deadlines and cost overruns.
