Battery unicorn Northvolt information for chapter, co-founder and CEO resigns | TechCrunch

Beleaguered Swedish battery producer Northvolt introduced on Thursday that it used to be submitting for chapter within the U.S., hanging a blow to Europe’s ambitions for homegrown lithium-ion batteries.

The corporate reportedly selected Bankruptcy 11 so to proper its funds. Within the wake of the submitting, co-founder and CEO Peter Carlsson resigned, regardless that he’ll stay on as an marketing consultant and a member of the board.

“Nowadays marks an important new segment for Northvolt in addition to for me in my view,” Carlsson mentioned in a observation. “The Bankruptcy 11 submitting permits a length right through which the corporate may also be reorganized, ramp up operations whilst honoring buyer and provider commitments, and in the end place itself for the long-term. That makes it a great time for me at hand over to the following era of leaders.”

Northvolt, which had soared for years at the again of sturdy fundraising and a string of bulletins about new amenities, has stumbled of overdue. It laid off 1,600 workers, about 20% of its group of workers, in September, and unloaded belongings in November from its ill-fated acquire of Bay House battery startup Cuberg.

The corporate has raised $14.26 billion, in keeping with PitchBook, together with a $1.2 billion spherical in 2023 to enlarge operations in North The united states. However that wasn’t sufficient to stay the cash-starved operation going. The corporate reportedly used to be burning via $100 million per thirty days. When BMW pulled out of a $2 billion contract in June after Northvolt didn’t ship on time, chapter become nearly inevitable.

This isn’t the primary time a battery production startup hit a coarse patch — A123 Methods’ failure over a decade in the past sticks out as a distinguished instance within the U.S. — and it most probably received’t be the final. Making lithium-ion cells is fiendishly tricky, requiring deep wisdom of chemistry, manufacturing apparatus, and high quality growth. Even main firms be afflicted by expensive issues, once in a while to the song of $1 billion. Northvolt’s chapter is most likely extra an indication of deficient execution than softer-than-expected call for for EVs.

Is that this the top for the Swedish corporate? Now not essentially. For one, Volkswagen owns a part of the corporate, and it has positioned a large wager on EVs, for which it’ll want hundreds of thousands of cells. Plus, Europe, like different complicated economies, has been dashing to stake a declare within the battery production house, and Northvolt appeared like its easiest likelihood to compete with Asian opponents. It’ll nonetheless be, in all probability with the assistance of a kind of opponents via some roughly partnership, however first it has to get its area so as.

Author: OpenAI