European gigafactory developer Northvolt has secured $600 million in private placement to invest in expanding its production and recycling capacity as well as R&D activities.
Led by Baillie Gifford, Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division and Volkswagen AG, the funding boost will help the Swedish company establish 150GWh of manufacturing capacity in Europe by 2030.
The private placement enables Northvolt to increase production capacity, double the size of its Northvolt Labs Campus in terms of investment and footprint, and establish a giga-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility next to the Northvolt Ett gigafactory.
The recycling facility will have an initial capacity of 4GWh, and be capable of recycling lithium in addition to cobalt, nickel, manganese and other metals.
Peter Carlsson, co-founder and CEO of Northvolt, said: “We are in the middle of a race to establish manufacturing capacity in Europe, and I believe the companies that are best at attracting talent and capital, while scaling their blueprints the fastest, will be the most successful.”
In this private placement, a new group of international institutional investors join as Northvolt shareholders: Baillie Gifford, Baron Capital Group, Bridford Investments Limited, Norrsken VC & PCS Holding.
Private investors Cristina Stenbeck and Daniel Ek also participated in the equity raise together with existing Northvolt shareholders Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, IMAS Foundation, Scania and Volkswagen AG.
The Northvolt Ett gigafactory in Skellefteå, Sweden, with planned 40GWh annual capacity, is scheduled to begin production next year.
In parallel, the permitting process is underway for Northvolt Zwei in Salzgitter, Germany, which is scheduled to begin operations in 2024 with an initial output of 16GWh.
Collectively, these initiatives will facilitate Northvolt’s goal of securing a 25% share of the European battery market by 2030, equalling around 150GWh of commissioned annual production capacity, with 50% of its raw material coming from recycled batteries.
