Northvolt

Northvolt, a Swedish electric vehicle battery startup, filed for bankruptcy in Sweden on March 12, 2025.¹²⁴ Northvolt faced production problems, financial losses, and was unable to secure necessary financing to continue operations.¹²⁴

Timeline

Date	Event	Source
2016	Northvolt was founded in 2016.	1815
2018-05	Northvolt raised a $12 million Series A round.	8
2019-06	Northvolt raised a strategic investment round at a valuation of $1.6 billion.	8
2020-09	Northvolt announced a $600 million private placement led by Baillie Gifford, Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, and Volkswagen AG.	8
2021-06	Northvolt raised $2.75 billion in a private equity placement co-led by Swedish pension funds, OMERS, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and Volkswagen Group.	8
2022-07	Northvolt signed a $1.1 billion convertible note, bringing total capital raised since 2017 to nearly $8 billion.	8
2023-08	Northvolt announced a $1.2 billion extension to its convertible note, bringing the total convertible round to $2.3 billion.	8
2023-11	Northvolt received a $150 million investment from CDPQ in the form of convertible debt.	8
2024-11-21	Northvolt AB and eight affiliated debtors filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.	1014
2025-03-12	Northvolt filed for bankruptcy in Sweden.	124
2025-04-01	Northvolt AB's U.S. Chapter 11 case was dismissed.	14
2025-08-07	Lyten acquired Northvolt's assets in Sweden and Germany.	1117
2025-10-16	Lyten completed acquisition of Northvolt BESS manufacturing facility in Poland.	17

Money raised

Northvolt raised a total of $7.1 billion across 9 funding rounds according to Multiples.⁸ Northvolt received more than $10 billion in equity, debt and public financing since it was founded in 2016.¹ In May 2018, Northvolt raised a $12 million Series A round.⁸ In June 2019, Northvolt raised a strategic investment round at a valuation of $1.6 billion.⁸ In September 2020, Northvolt announced a $600 million private placement led by Baillie Gifford, Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, and Volkswagen AG.⁸ In June 2021, Northvolt raised $2.75 billion in a private equity placement co-led by Swedish pension funds, OMERS, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and Volkswagen Group.⁸ In July 2022, Northvolt signed a $1.1 billion convertible note, bringing total capital raised since 2017 to nearly $8 billion.⁸ In August 2023, Northvolt announced a $1.2 billion extension to its convertible note, bringing the total convertible round to $2.3 billion.⁸ In November 2023, Northvolt received a $150 million investment from CDPQ in the form of convertible debt.⁸

Investors named in the sources: Volkswagen¹⁸, Goldman Sachs¹⁸, Baillie Gifford⁸, OMERS Private Equity⁸, AMF⁸, IMAS Foundation⁸, BlackRock⁸, CPP Investments⁸, Investment Management Corporation of Ontario⁸, CDPQ⁸.

What happened

Northvolt was a Swedish battery manufacturer founded in 2016 to build the world's greenest, sustainably sourced lithium-ion batteries.⁸ The company was regarded as a leading player in European efforts to build an electric vehicle battery industry.¹ Northvolt built a factory in northern Sweden, where it was hoping to use green energy to produce hundreds of thousands of EV batteries each year.¹ The company received more than $10 billion in equity, debt and public financing since it was founded in 2016.¹ Northvolt counted the carmaker Volkswagen and the investment bank Goldman Sachs as its biggest owners.¹

The company built a factory in northern Sweden, Europe's first homegrown battery gigafactory.¹ Northvolt ran into difficulties getting the facility up and running.¹ Last year it also suspended the expansion of the plant.¹ Northvolt faced significant internal challenges during the increase of battery production in what it called a highly complex industry.¹² The startup had previously faced criticism for trying to build several factories at the same time in Sweden, Germany and the US.¹

In its attempt to save the company last year, Northvolt had already sought to cut costs and announced 1,600 job cuts.¹ Northvolt filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US in November 2024.¹¹⁰ Shortly after, its chief executive, Peter Carlsson, departed.¹¹⁵ He said at the time that Northvolt needed to raise between $1bn and $1.2bn to restore its business.¹ Northvolt sought bankruptcy protection in the U.S. in November after a bid to secure rescue funding fell short, leaving the company with just one week's cash and $5.84 billion in debt.¹²

On March 12, 2025, Northvolt filed for bankruptcy in Sweden.¹²⁴ The company said it had been unable to secure the necessary financial conditions to continue in its current form in Sweden.¹² After the bankruptcy filing, a court-appointed trustee oversaw the sale of Northvolt's business and assets while settling its outstanding debts.¹² The company's 5,000 employees faced an uncertain future.¹⁴ Northvolt said it would work closely with authorities and trade unions to give workers support and information.¹²

Northvolt blamed a series of compounding challenges in recent months that had hit its finances, including rising capital costs, geopolitical instability, subsequent supply chain disruptions, and shifts in market demand.¹² Northvolt added that it had faced significant internal challenges during the increase of battery production in what it called a highly complex industry.¹² The bankruptcy affected the company's factory in Skellefteå, Northern Sweden, among other locations.⁴ Northvolt Ett is the company's gigafactory for producing lithium-ion batteries, located in the northern Swedish city of Skellefteå, where mass layoffs were announced this fall.⁴ The company had about 5,000 employees in Sweden, and most worked at the factory in Skellefteå.⁴

On March 12, the electric battery giant shut its doors for good.⁵ Nearly 5,000 people employed at the Skelleftea gigafactory lost their jobs.⁵ Northvolt's downfall cast a chill over Sweden's ambitions to reindustrialize around clean technology.⁵ In Skelleftea, a city of 77,000, the shock was immense.⁵ We were the fastest-growing Swedish city in decades, and now we had to face the largest bankruptcy in the country's history, said Kristina Sundin Jonsson, the director of municipal services.⁵

Northvolt's bankruptcy in March 2025 became the largest in modern Swedish history, with nearly 80 billion in debt and around 5,000 employees.¹¹ The bankruptcy is also one of the largest industrial insolvencies in Europe in modern times.¹¹ The situation was particularly critical in Skellefteå, where the factory completely lacked liquid funds.¹¹ Thanks to the dedication of the staff and enormous support from Scania, production was temporarily resumed during the spring.¹¹ However, when production ceased, the business was left without revenue.¹¹

Potential buyers chose not to proceed.¹¹ Planning for a complete shutdown began, but hope for a restart remained, especially among employees and the local community.¹¹ In June, new interested parties emerged, and after an extremely intensive effort since then, the negotiations finally led to an agreement with Lyten.¹¹ On August 7, 2025, Lyten acquired Northvolt's assets in Sweden and Germany.¹¹¹⁷ The sale of Northvolt's battery factory in Skellefteå and its development facility in Västerås was completed.¹¹

The U.S. battery company Lyten acquired the factories, the headquarters in Stockholm, and all intellectual property.¹¹ The deal also included Northvolt's shares in the projects Northvolt Drei in Germany.¹¹ Lyten intends to restart operations in all facilities utilizing Northvolt's existing lithium-ion NMC technology and plans to add Lyten's lithium-sulfur batteries to the product portfolio in each location over time.¹⁷ Lyten has entered into a binding agreement to acquire all remaining Northvolt assets in Sweden, Germany, and Poland, along with all remaining Northvolt intellectual property.¹⁷ The assets being acquired include 16 GWh of operational battery manufacturing capacity, 15 GWh of capacity under construction, infrastructure to scale to more than 100 GWh over time, Europe's largest and most advanced battery R&D facility, Europe's largest and most advanced BESS manufacturing facility (6 GWh), and all remaining Northvolt IP.¹⁷

Lyten intends to restart operations immediately, with production capacity of about 6 GWh annually, expandable up to 10 GWh.¹⁷ Deliveries are expected to begin in Q4 2025.¹⁷ Lyten's acquisition of the Northvolt assets is expected to finalize during Q4 2025.¹⁷

Legal outcomes

• filedNorthvolt AB and eight affiliated debtors filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code on November 21, 2024.¹⁰¹⁴
• dismissedNorthvolt AB's U.S. Chapter 11 case was dismissed on April 1, 2025.¹⁴
• filedNorthvolt filed for bankruptcy in Sweden on March 12, 2025.¹²⁴

Where the founders are now

Peter Carlsson stepped aside from his role as CEO of Northvolt on November 22, 2024, and took on a role as Senior Advisor and remained a Member of the Board.¹⁵ Peter Carlsson is Co-founder and former CEO of Northvolt.¹⁶ Carlsson mentions his new ventures: Aris Machina, an agentic operating system for manufacturing and Sonder Labs, a sodium-ion battery company focused on building chemistry and supply chains less dependent on China.¹⁶

Lessons, as others put them

"We set out to build something groundbreaking – to drive real change in the battery, EV [electric vehicle] and wider European industry and accelerate the transition to a green and sustainable future."Tom Johnstone, Northvolt's interim chair¹²⁴

"This is an incredibly difficult day for everyone at Northvolt."Tom Johnstone, Northvolt's interim chair¹²⁴

"We are hopeful that the foundation we built — the technology, the expertise, and the commitment to sustainability — will continue to drive change in the industry."Tom Johnstone, Northvolt's interim chair²⁴

"It is a marathon to build such an industry. It needs patience and long-term commitment from all stakeholders."Tom Johnstone, Northvolt's interim chair²

"What we are really looking for, and seeing, is factories at different stages of completion that are building [nickel manganese cobalt and lithium iron phosphate batteries and] are struggling to make the finances work."Keith Norman, Lyten chief sustainability officer⁶

Sources

1. EV battery startup Northvolt files for bankruptcy in Sweden, the Guardian, 2025-03-12
2. Northvolt files for bankruptcy in Sweden, northvolt.com, 2025-03-12
4. Battery Company Northvolt Files For Bankruptcy, highnorthnews-en, 2025-03-12
5. The fall of Northvolt, Sweden's symbol of green reindustrialization, Le Monde.fr, Nov 22, 20
6. As Northvolt falters, this lithium sulfur startup is ready to pick up the pieces, Latitude Media, 2024-11-27
8. Northvolt Valuation, Funding & Investors | Multiples, multiples.vc
10. Northvolt AB, cases.stretto.com
11. Northvolt | Ackordscentralen, ackordscentralen.se, Aug 7, 202
12. Northvolt Gets New Extension to Submit Documents to US Court - TT, Transport Topics, 2025-01-16
14. Northvolt AB bankruptcy: docket, status and key dates, ElevenFlo
15. Peter Carlsson steps aside as CEO of Northvolt, northvolt.com, 2024-11-22
16. Lessons from Peter Carlsson after the Rise and Fall of Northvolt, Spotify, May 19, 20
17. Lyten Acquisition of Northvolt Assets, Energy Storage | AI Data Center Power Management | Lightweight Lithium-Sulfur Cells

How this case file was put together

Every statement on this page carries a numbered note, and every note points to a court record, a regulatory filing or a named publication in the list of sources. Each statement was checked against the text of the sources it cites before it was published: a figure, a date or a name the cited source does not contain was cut rather than kept. Allegations are shown as allegations, with their status at the time of the source (filed, charged, convicted, pleaded, settled, dismissed or pending). Quoted lessons are the words of the person or publication named with them, copied from the cited source; nothing here is our own opinion of why the company failed.

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