Former Tesla Exec's Swedish Battery Company Northvolt Raises $2.75B In Funding Round: Bloomberg - Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Former Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) executive founded Swedish battery maker, Northvolt AB, has raised $2.75 billion in its biggest funding round to expand its operations and cater to the increasing European demand for green energy cells, Bloomberg reported.
Swedish pension funds AP1, AP2, AP3 and AP4, Omers Capital Markets, and existing investors Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Volkswagen AG (OTC:VWAGY) led the round.
The funds will be spent on existing and new facilities, R&D personnel hiring, and cell chemistries' research support.
Volkswagen contributed $620 million to the round for maintaining a close to 20% stake in Northvolt.
Denmark pension fund ATP added 900 million kroner ($147 million), reaching a total investment of 1.5 billion kroner.
Northvolt targets a 25% European market share by 2030.
Northvolt will expand annual capacity at the Skelleftea Ett factory from an earlier target of 40 GWh to 60-gigawatt hours.
The Skelleftea plant will be Northvolt's first large-scale manufacturing facility, churning out cells by 2021 end.
Northvolt presently has contracts worth over $27 billion with customers, including Volkswagen, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (OTC:BMWYY), and Scania.
Northvolt plans to build at least two more battery factories in Europe over the next ten years to accomplish its 2030 target. It is considering Germany for the next plant.
The company is in discussion with multiple German states. It is also open to partnerships for new factory projects in Europe.
Price action: VWAGY shares traded lower by 4.2% at $36.74 in the premarket session on the last check Wednesday.

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