EU-backed investors plan 500-mln-euro battery raw materials fund

Two of Europe's leading energy transition investors plan to raise 500 million euros ($544.55 million) for a battery raw materials fund, aiming to plug "significant gaps" in the region's supply chain, executives told Reuters.

InnoEnergy, backed by the European Union, and Demeter Investment Managers said the EBA Strategic Battery Materials Fund would focus its efforts on critical minerals including lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite.

Amid surging demand for electric batteries for transport and industry, the bloc is seeking to reduce its reliance on foreign supplies as part of the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act.

As the manager of the EU-backed European Battery Alliance, InnoEnergy aims to create a complete domestic battery value chain to boost the bloc's sovereignty.

"Any value chain is as strong as the weakest of its links and today the...