Holyvolt raises $45 million to develop nickel- and cobalt-free batteries using AI

The Swedish start-up, valued at $245 million, is using 18 years’ worth of cell testing data inherited from Wildcat Discovery to train its models, with a view to speeding up the development of new cathodes.

Holyvolt, a Stockholm-based start-up, has raised $45 million in equity from Zone II, CC.VC and several individual investors from the defense and finance sectors, for a valuation of $245 million. It is led by its Swedish founder Mathias Ingvarsson, supported by Steven Prast, former head of production at Tesla, now director of operations.

A database of 500,000 cells tested

Its advantage comes from its merger with the American Wildcat Discovery Technologies, whose database covers more than 500,000 battery cells tested in 18 years. Holyvolt trains AI models that propose materials, which are then verified in the laboratory; each series of real tests feeds into the next prediction. The company claims to work ten times faster than traditional R&D.

It is developing cathodes with a "disorderly rocksalt" (XRD) structure, which do without nickel and cobalt, with the explicit objective of reducing Western dependence on the Chinese chain. The market is targeted for 2027, first for drones, before cars and data centers. Holyvolt does not intend to build its factories: it relies on licensing, subcontracting or joint ventures.