Northvolt filed for chapter in Sweden on Wednesday, the most recent blow to Europe’s makes an attempt to create a battery manufacturing juggernaut that would rival the Chinese language giants.
Although the Swedish startup has raised greater than $14 billion, it has been operating quick on money lately. Northvolt had beforehand filed for Chapter 11 chapter within the U.S. in November. Since then, it’s been racing to preserve money and lift new funds in an effort to stave off insolvency.
These efforts have fallen quick.
“Northvolt has skilled a sequence of compounding challenges in latest months that eroded its monetary place, together with rising capital prices, geopolitical instability, subsequent provide chain disruptions, and shifts in market demand,” the corporate mentioned in a statement.
European international locations and automakers had pinned their hopes on Northvolt, which represented a daring wager on EU battery manufacturing. Most battery factories right this moment are constructed and run by Chinese language, Japanese, or Korean firms.
The ailing producer had secured a $5 billion debt deal in January 2024, but it surely was struggling to herald income because it burned by way of a reported $100 million per 30 days.
Northvolt’s fortunes took a extra decisive flip when BMW canceled a $2 billion contract in June 2024. The battery producer had been unable to ship on time.
To preserve money, it laid off 1,600 workers and bought the belongings of its Cuberg division, a Bay Space solid-state battery startup it acquired in 2021.
Northvolt had been in search of extra financing from lenders, but it surely was unable to achieve an settlement with them. That deadlock, coupled with earlier failures, weren’t sufficient to increase the corporate’s runway far sufficient to grasp its manufacturing woes and construct a strong buyer base.