Analysis

June 14, 2019

This Swedish startup just raised $1bn to build a battery farm to rival Tesla's "gigafactory"

How two former Tesla executives managed to get enough momentum to build a gigafactory in Europe.


Mimi Billing

6 min read

The Northvolt Lab and the Northvolt Ett battery factory are both being built in Sweden.

When former Tesla manager Peter Carlsson said he wanted to build at €3bn battery farm in northern Sweden, many thought he was crazy. But this week his almost three-year-old startup Northvolt closed a new financing round led by Volkswagen and Goldman Sachs in a massive equity round of $1bn (approximately €900m).

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Model image of Northvolt's planned battery factory when it's finished building.
What the Northvolt battery factory in northern Sweden will look like when ready.
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Headshot of Peter Carlsson, the Chief Executive of Northvolt.
Former Telsa executive Peter Carlsson is the chief executive of Northvolt.
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Mimi Billing

Mimi Billing is Sifted's Europe editor, based in Stockholm. She covers the Nordics and can be found on X and LinkedIn

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