Britishvolt raises £40 million from Glencore for setting up gigafactory in Northumberland
Battery start-up Britishvolt has announced that it has raised £40 million funding from mining giant Glencore as it drives ahead with plans to build a major gigafactory in Northumberland.
The funding from Glencore comes as part of a £200 million fundraise for Britishvolt, open to new and existing investors, which will be used to fuel the development of its battery manufacturing facility.
Glencore's new backing of the company comes at a considerably higher valuation than its earlier commitment to Britishvolt, which valued it at more than $1 billion, the firm stated.
Glencore has also earlier pledged to supply the company's planned gigafactory in the Northeast with cobalt for use in the development of batteries.
The latest funding round comes after Britishvolt raised £1.7 billion from warehouse provider Tritax and investment firm Abrdn to channel into the construction of its Northumberland factory.
The government has also thrown its weight behind the company with a grant of £100 million from the Automotive Transformation Fund, which it is drawing on to convince battery manufacturers into setting up a base in the UK.
