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LONDON – Spotify founder and chief executive Daniel AK has invested in Swedish battery firm Northwolt, which is building a giga factory in the Lapland region of Sweden.
Stockholm-headquartered Northwelt announced on Tuesday that it has raised equity funds from institutional investors such as Swedish businessman Christina Steinbeck, and Bailey Gifford, Baron Capital Group, Bridford Investment Limited, Norscan VC and PCS Holdings. Current NorthVault shareholders Goldm Sachs Merchant Banking Division, IMAS Foundation, Scania and Volkswagen have also participated in the round of funding.
Investments in Tesla rivals come in less than a week when one promised to invest 1 billion euros (1. 1.2 billion) of his fortune in “moonshot” bets in Europe. According to Forbes, one is valued at 7. 7.7 billion, indicating that it allocates about a third of its assets to fund European tech.
“I want to do my part; we all know that one of the biggest challenges is access to capital,” he said, adding that they wanted to achieve the “new European dream”.
“I get really frustrated when I see European entrepreneurs stop giving non-European companies their attractive vision as soon as possible or when they leave some promising technology talents in Europe they don’t feel valued here,” AK said. Slash Tech Conference last Thursday. “We need more super companies that can raise the bar and act as inspiration.”
Founded in 2016, NorthVault aims to develop the world’s greenest lithium-ion battery. The company, founded by two former Tesla executives, is looking to use its batteries to power a new electric car made by some of Europe’s largest automotive manufacturers.
It is in the process of building a giga factory to produce batteries in Scalleftia, northern Sweden, and is expected to start production in 2021.
The company, which already employs about 800 people, said it would use the new funds to increase the number it could produce battery cells and systems. It will use the money to double the size of its labs and create a “giga scale recycling facility” capable of recycling lithium in addition to cobalt, nickel, manganese and other metals.
“We are in the middle of a race to establish production capacity in Europe, and I believe that companies that are the best at attracting talent and capital, while scaling their blueprints the fastest, will be the most successful,” said Peter Carlson. Founder and CEO of NorthVault, in a statement.
“With these world-class partners behind us, we have laid a solid foundation for advancing and implementing our plans to enable mass production of green batteries in Europe.”
Northvolt is also applying for permission to set up a second Gigaf facility in Salzgitter, Germany, and expects operations to begin in 2024.
Last June, Northvolt raised 1 1 billion from Volkswagen, BMW and others.
In July, it announced it had raised દેવામાં 1.6 billion in debt through a consortium of commercial banks, pension funds and public financial institutions. This includes a $ 350 million loan from the European Investment Bank, a publicly owned entity whose shareholders are EU member states.
In July, BMW signed a અ 2 billion battery sale agreement with NorthVault that would see it use NorthVault batteries in its next electric car.
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