Northvolt's most recent fundraising brings in $1.2B for facility expansion

To finance the construction of new plants, Northvolt has raised $1.2 billion from a number of investors, including BlackRock and various Canadian pension funds. 

The additional funding, provided by a convertible note, comes as investor interest in businesses expected to gain from the transition to a low-carbon economy picks up, helped by initiatives taken by governments in both regions to hasten the process.

The largest asset manager in the world, BlackRock, was joined at the top of the round by the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, the Canada Pension Plan, and the pension investor Investment Management Corporation of Ontario.

The accelerating adoption of battery storage and electric vehicles, according to BlackRock's global head of climate infrastructure, David Giordano, is driving the battery manufacturing industry's attractive growth potential.

Baillie Gifford, Goldman Sachs, Swedbank Robur, Volkswagen, Singapore's GIC, and Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Enterprises were among the additional investors.

The fact that a number of the funds used to buy the note were categorized as "dark green" under the sustainable finance framework of the European Union is encouraging for future interest in the business, which eventually hopes to go public, according to Hartman.

According to Hartman, the additional funding will aid the company in growing its production footprint. The company presently operates many plants in Europe, with the most recent investment in a plant in Germany being 600 million euros ($654 million), which was announced in May.

Although the company has a facility in the United States, sources claim that plans for a multibillion dollar battery factory to be built in Canada are nearly complete and will be revealed later this year.