Spotify co-founder and Chief Executive Daniel Ek is among a group of investors, including Goldman Sachs and Volkswagen, that are backing a high-tech battery company founded by two former Tesla executives.
Sweden’s Northvolt, which wants to build the world’s greenest battery, announced on Tuesday that it had raised $600 million in equity. The investment will be used to fund building the world’s largest lithium-ion battery recycling facility, as well as research and development.
The company brought in seven new investors in the latest funding round, including Ek and Swedish entrepreneur Cristina Stenbeck. Baillie Gifford, a Scottish asset manager that is one of Tesla’s largest independent shareholders, is another new backer.
Four existing shareholders, including Goldman Sachs’ merchant banking division and Volkswagen, joined the equity raise.
“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,” said Peter Carlsson, Northvolt Chief Executive and co-founder.
The planned battery recycling facility in northern Sweden will be built next to Northvolt’s existing factory in Skellefteå. Northvolt is also expanding its R&D campus, in anticipation of the company doubling in size in terms of investment and footprint over the coming years.
Founded in 2016 by former Tesla executives Carlsson and Paolo Cerruti, Northvolt’s founding mission is to enable the European transition to green energy. A competitor to Tesla, part of its focus is on batteries to be used in the next generation of electric vehicles. It has partnered with automotive makers BMW, Volkswagen, and Scania.
Ek’s investment in Northvolt is part of his pledge to fund “moonshots” in European technology with his own money — €1 billion ($1.17 billion) of it, which is estimated to be about one-third of his wealth.
The Swedish businessman announced his pledge last week at the Slush tech conference. The investments will focus on deep tech, which is technology that relies on substantial and significant scientific advances.
“It is up to the entrepreneurial spirit in each of us to do our part to raise the ambition and get the snowball to roll faster,” Ek said.
This article originally appeared on MarketWatch.
