Lyten, a Stellantis-supported U.S. lithium-sulfur battery startup manufacturer, announces its acquisition of all the remaining assets of Sweden’s bankrupt automotive battery business, Northvolt.
Northvolt had been seen as Europe’s best chance of creating its own auto battery manufacturing hub. This acquisition by Lyten could resurrect the continent’s potential to have a major automotive battery supplier within its economic bloc to service domestic automakers.
Northvolt fell on hard times and ultimately filed for bankruptcy due to the loss of key automaker contracts, as consumer demand for battery-electric vehicles slowed, and it faced increasing competition from cheaper cells supplied by Chinese manufacturers, such as CATL and BYD, who are the global leaders in automotive propulsion batteries.
In a company statement Lyten, which counts Stellantis and the U.S. delivery service FedEx as its financial backers, says it has acquired the rights to Northvolt’s energy storage products, Voltpack Mobile Systems (VMS), Voltrack and future Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) products currently in development.
It adds that this is its third Northvolt-related acquisition since November 2024, when it acquired Northvolt’s Cuberg battery manufacturing facility in California. Earlier in July, Lyten announced plans to acquire Northvolt Dwa, Europe’s largest BESS manufacturing facility, located in Gdansk, Poland, a deal it expects to close in the third quarter of 2025.
The deal is confirmed by Northvolt’s existing website, which states Lyten’s acquisition includes its other physical properties Northvolt Ett and Ett Expansion, at Skelleftea, Sweden; Northvolt Labs at Västeras, Sweden; and Northvolt Drei at Heide, Germany. Additionally, Lyten is acquiring all remaining Northvolt intellectual property.
Now the core members of Northvolt’s energy storage engineering team will be joining Lyten in Stockholm, Sweden, and VMS and future BESS products will be manufactured in the Polish facility.
In a statement, Northvolt's bankruptcy trustee, Mikael Kubu, says: “During the bankruptcy process, the risk of a complete shutdown was very real, which would have resulted in significant destruction of value.”
Lyten, a Silicon Valley startup established in 2015, employs lithium-sulfur battery chemistry claiming to be environmentally cleaner than the traditional and widespread lithium-ion battery chemistry of nickel manganese cobalt (NMC).
The company is benefiting from securing more than $200 million in additional equity investment from backers, bringing total investments into its operations of more than $625 million.
It says it intends to raise additional capital to accelerate an acquisition strategy and expansion plans in both the U.S. and Europe.
Dan Cook, Lyten CEO and co-founder, says in a statement that the moves are driven by a desire by both companies and governments in the West for energy independence from Chinese battery supply chains.
“Drones, defense, data centers and BESS are all markets seeking battery solutions independent of Chinese supply chains,” he explains, adding, “This capital is focused on rapid, capital-efficient expansion of manufacturing and onboarding world-leading talent in both the U.S. and European markets.”
