Volvo‑backed HolyVolt buys US battery R&D firm Wildcat for $73 million

Volvo AB

05/03/2026 14:00

By Marie Mannes

STOCKHOLM, March 5 (Reuters) - Swedish battery tech firm HolyVolt has bought U.S.-based R&D company Wildcat Discovery Technologies for $73 million, the companies said on Thursday, as part of its efforts to help Western battery makers scale up to mass production.

The deal comes amid rising tariffs and geopolitical tensions that are pushing Europe and the U.S. to reduce reliance on China for battery materials. It also comes a day after new European Commission proposals aimed at strengthening domestic manufacturing and securing regional supply chains.

Wildcat CEO Mark Gresser said he has seen strong interest from potential investors and strategic partners who are "really desperate to change the situation with regard to supply from China"

Some battery projects have struggled to scale up from the lab to large-volume manufacturing, including bankrupt Swedish battery maker Northvolt

Wildcat's platform runs thousands of parallel battery experiments at pilot scale for anode, cathode and electrolyte development for global manufacturers

Deal combines Wildcat's technology with HolyVolt's solvent-free screen-printing process to spot scale-up issues earlier

HolyVolt's CEO and founder Mathias Ingvarsson told Reuters the acquisition broadened its U.S investor reach, adding to existing Swedish backers including truckmaker Volvo Group VOLVb.ST and Wallenberg's FAM

Transaction structured as cash, equity and deferred milestones payment, with Wildcat becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary. No further details were provided

 (Reporting by Marie Mannes. Editing by Mark Potter)

 ((marie.mannes@thomsonreuters.com; +46 8 502 423 82))