Benzinga | Jun 9, 2021 09:00AM EDT

Former Tesla Exec's Swedish Battery Company Northvolt Raises $2.75B In Funding Round: Bloomberg

* 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.