The global lithium-ion battery market size is expanding at a CAGR of 13.0%, and is expected to reach $87.5B (nearly €74.6B) by 2027. The rising sales of EVs and the variation in consumer preferences are being considered as the prominent factors that would drive this growth.
Lithium-ion battery manufacturers such as Stockholm-based Northvolt are well-positioned to ride this growth wave. Northvolt is a supplier of sustainable, high-quality battery cells and systems, and it just raised $600M (nearly €512M).
Bags €512M equity funding
Northvolt just announced that it has raised $600M (nearly €512M) private equity funding led by Baillie Gifford, Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, and Volkswagen AG. In this private placement, a group of global institutional investors – Baillie Gifford, Baron Capital Group, Bridford Investments Limited, Norrsken VC & PCS Holding become the shareholders of Northvolt. And, private investors such as Cristina Stenbeck and Daniel Ek, co-founder and CEO of Spotify, also participated in the equity raise along with existing Northvolt shareholders.
Just days before this funding announcement, Ek had pledged to invest €1B of his personal wealth in European deep tech startups.
Great growth, expansion plans!
The Swedish company intends to use this private placement to invest in three key areas. Firstly, it will increase its production capacity of battery cells and systems and support the goal of establishing 150 GWh of manufacturing capacity in Europe by 2030.
Next, Northvolt will expand the Northvolt Labs Campus wherein its R&D activities take place. It is expected to double in size in the coming years in terms of footprint and investment. Also, the company intends to establish a giga-scale Li-Ion battery recycling facility besides Northvolt Ett gigafactory. This new facility is expected to become the largest in the world with 4GWh initial capacity. Also, it will be the only large-scale facility in Europe to recycle lithium along with nickel, cobalt, manganese, and other metals.
With these initiatives, Northvolt, founded by Peter Carlsson and Paolo Cerruti, targets to capture 25% market share in Europe by 2030 and intends to use 50% of the raw materials from recycled batteries.
The company works with a mission to deliver the world’s greenest lithium-ion battery with reduced CO2 footprint and has facilities in Sweden, Poland, and Germany. Since Northvolt’s inception in 2016, it has grown to more than 800 people from over 70 different nationalities at its facilities in Sweden, Germany and Poland. Its industrial partners and customers include ABB, BMW Group, Scania, Siemens, Vattenfall, Vestas and the Volkswagen Group.
Main image picture credits: Northvolt
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