# Zheng Li

> Zheng Li is the co-founder and CEO of Li Industries, a Pineville, North Carolina battery-materials company built around direct recycling. After training in materials science at Jilin University, Tsinghua University and Binghamton University, working at MIT and 24M Technologies, and teaching at Virginia Tech, Li helped turn laboratory research into patented systems for sorting spent batteries and restoring electrode materials for reuse. Li Industries raised a $36 million Series B in 2024 and was selected for a $55 million U.S. Department of Energy award supporting a planned 10,000-ton-per-year LFP cathode-material facility.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Li Industries
- **Organizations:** Li Industries, Virginia Tech, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 24M Technologies
- **Education:** B.E. in Materials Physics, Jilin University, M.E. in Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, State University of New York at Binghamton
- **Known for:** Primary inventor named by Li Industries for its closed-loop lithium-ion battery materials production technology., Co-inventor on U.S. patents covering smart battery sorting and scalable direct battery recycling., Led battery research and prototype development at MIT and Virginia Tech before moving full time into company leadership.

## Career timeline

- **2011-2013** — Postdoctoral associate in materials science and engineering at MIT.
- **2013-2014** — Senior R&D scientist at 24M Technologies.
- **2014-2016** — Returned to MIT, first as a postdoctoral associate and then as a research scientist.
- **2016** — Joined Virginia Tech's mechanical engineering faculty as an assistant professor.
- **2017** — Co-founded Li Industries to develop closed-loop battery-material production and recycling systems.
- **2022** — Li Industries was named one of four Phase III winners in the U.S. Department of Energy Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize; Li also became a tenured associate professor at Virginia Tech.
- **2024** — Li Industries raised a $36 million Series B for scale-up and was selected for a $55 million Department of Energy award supporting a 10,000-ton-per-year LFP facility.

## Achievements

- Primary inventor named by Li Industries for its closed-loop lithium-ion battery materials production technology.
- Co-inventor on U.S. patents covering smart battery sorting and scalable direct battery recycling.
- Led battery research and prototype development at MIT and Virginia Tech before moving full time into company leadership.
- Built Li Industries from university-linked research into a company operating a 500-ton recycling facility and a 1,000-ton sorting facility.
- Led Li Industries through a $36 million Series B co-led by Bosch Ventures, Khosla Ventures and LG Technology Ventures.
- Li Industries was selected for a $55 million Department of Energy award for a planned 10,000-ton-per-year LFP cathode-material plant.

## Latest updates

- **2025-04** — A U.S. patent for methods and systems for scalable direct recycling of battery waste was issued to Li Industries, naming Zheng Li among the inventors.
- **2024-09** — Li Industries was selected for a $55 million Department of Energy award supporting a 10,000-ton-per-year LFP recycling and cathode-material facility.
- **2024-05** — Li Industries announced a $36 million Series B co-led by Bosch Ventures, Khosla Ventures and LG Technology Ventures.

## Links

- Website: https://www.li-ind.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zheng-li-02b6a6a

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/zheng-li
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-28