Tiny California Startup Buys Up Assets of Failed European Battery Giant
Lyten, with 250 employees, grabbed Northvolt’s sprawling factories for a fraction of their cost
In November, Europe’s struggling home-grown battery champion, Sweden-based Northvolt, began to sell off assets in an effort to raise cash and pay off debt. It started with its northern California electric aviation battery subsidiary. Last month, it sold off its Poland-based stationary storage factory. And today, Northvolt said it had sold its remaining crown jewels—its battery factories and labs in Sweden and Germany.
In all three cases, the surprising acquirer was Lyten, a pipsqueak San Jose, Calif., startup that employs around 250 people and has raised $675 million since launching in 2015.