Automotive

America gets Northvolt: Lyten takes over the former European battery hopeful

The Californian start-up has received over $625 million from the US government and investors such as Stellantis, FedEx, Honeywell, Prime Movers Lab

by Finance Review

8 August 2025

La fabbrica Northvolt Ett a Skelleftea, Svezia, il 27 novembre 2024. REUTERS/Marie Mannes

2' min read

Key points

Who is Lyten, a fast-growing company
The New (American)
A geopolitical game

2' min read

It seemed destined to become the symbol of European technological autonomy, the Old Continent's answer to the Asian electric car battery giants. Instead, Sweden's Northvolt, the most ambitious of the start-ups born in the heart of Europe's industrial transition, is changing flag. It has been taken over by the Californian Lyten, a start-up specialising in the development of advanced battery technologies and innovative materials such as three-dimensional graphene. With the deal, it consolidates its position on the European market as well.

The price of the acquisition has not been disclosed, but is described as 'largely discounted' from an initial asset value estimated at around USD 5 billion. Divesting is not just a company in crisis: it isa piece of European industrial strategy.

Northvolt was born in 2016 with huge ambitions: to build a green, made-in-Europe battery chain, leveraging leading investors such as Volkswagen (which held 21% of the capital) and Goldman Sachs (19%). In just a few years, it had raised over $10 billion in capital, debt and public funds. But amidst production delays, difficulties in guaranteeing high quality standards and an increasingly competitive global scenario, the Swedish company declared bankruptcy last March, leaving more than 6,000 employees stranded and a $50 billion order cancelled by major automotive customers (including Bmw, Volkswagen, Volvo and Audi).

Who is Lyten, a fast-growing reality

Founded in 2015 in a container in San Jose, Lyten is now a fast-growing company that focuses on lithium-sulphur batteries, which are considered more sustainable and up to two-thirds cheaper than conventional lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. The advantage? They do not require materials such as nickel, manganese or cobalt, whose supply chain is dominated by China. It is precisely Beijing that today controls 70% of global battery production for electric vehicles.

Lyten has already received more than $625 million from investors such as Stellantis, FedEx, Honeywell, Prime Movers Lab and the US government, which has also backed the project of a more than $1 billion gigafactory in Reno, Nevada. The acquisition of Northvolt joins the recent acquisitions of the Swedish ex-startup's Polish and US operations.

The New (American) Course

The plan is clear: to restart the plant in Skellefteå, Sweden, by 2026, initially with lithium-ion cells, and then to integrate its own lithium-sulphur technology. In parallel, Lyten will also take over the German site under construction, the intellectual property and the energy storage hub in Poland, the largest in Europe. The acquisition of the Canadian site Northvolt Six, near Montréal, is also under consideration.

According to the CEO, co-founder and chairman of the Californian company, Dan Cook, part of the old Northvolt management will be reinstated, but not the founder Peter Carlsson. The business plan includes the re-hiring of thousands of former employees and the commercial re-launch with historical customers. 'We think many will be back sooner than you imagine,' Cook said, hinting at negotiations already underway.

A geopolitical game

Beyond the industrial operation, the Northvolt case reflects the growing strategic imbalance in the confrontation between China and the United States, with Europe struggling. While Beijing consolidates its supremacy with giants such as CATL and BYD, and Washington spreads billions in incentives and reshoring, Brussels tries to catch up, among EIB funds, green regulations and Ipcei projects. Too little, too late? (Al.An.)