Holyvolt: The mysterious energy startup backed by Nordic tech giants

No, this isn’t another article about Northvolt, although the name and possibly the startup’s growth ambitions are similar to those of Sweden’s electric battery giant.

But what exactly Holyvolt, quietly founded in 2022, intends to do isn’t immediately clear.

In late 2024 the firm’s website merely states “launch in progress.” LinkedIn and an investor’s website provide a bit more information, explaining that Holyvolt aims to “develop sustainable energy through an eco-friendly, non-toxic nano-paste that can generate heat, light, and storage.”

Registered as a Swedish business, Holyvolt’s official address on Google Maps is in Munich, Germany, in a location listed as a base for "cleantech manufacturing".

Holyvolt’s co-founder and CEO, Swedish serial entrepreneur Mathias Ingvarsson initially declines to comment when approached by Impact Loop, explaining he doesn’t want to speak until the company has delivered its product.

Backed by Nordic tech and business giants

What is certain is that Holyvolt has discreetly secured 100 million SEK (around USD 11 million / EUR 9.5 million) from high-profile investors. Uncovering this information wasn’t easy. It was masked in documents submitted to the Swedish Companies Registration Office.

Impact Loop eventually obtained a list of shareholders, identifying the firm’s latest investors:

FAM, an investment firm associated with one of Sweden’s most influential business families, the Wallenbergs, has invested 41 million SEK (approximately USD 4.51 million / EUR 3.9 million) in Holyvolt, gaining a 4.9% stake post-dilution. 

Volvo Business Services International, a subsidiary of the bus and truck giant Volvo, also joined the round with an investment of 25 million SEK (around USD 2.75 million / EUR 2.38 million), securing a 2.94% stake. 

Course Corrected, a climate-tech investment firm committed to sustainable tech innovations, first backed Holyvolt in 2022 and reinvested in this latest round, increasing its ownership to 6.95%. Partner Kerstin Cooley, a prominent advocate for sustainable ventures who’s also been an investor on Sweden’s version of Dragon’s Den, Draknästet, holds a board seat at Holyvolt.

Jacob de Geer and Magnus Nilsson, known for revolutionizing digital payments in Europe after co-founding iZettle (now the PayPal owned Zettle) and also both Draknästet guest investors, were other significant early backers of Holyvolt. With an additional fresh investment of 14.6 million SEK (about USD 1.61 million / EUR 1.39 million), they now hold a combined stake exceeding 15%. ​​

Mining heavyweight takes the chair

And there’s more. During a Holyvolt shareholder meeting, held alongside the capital raise, a new chairman was elected.

It’s none other than Belgian business heavyweight Ronnie Leten, former CEO of Swedish industrial machinery company Atlas Copco and, until 2023, chairman of telecom giant Ericsson. Currently, he chairs Epiroc, a machinery firm with annual revenues of around 60 billion SEK (approximately USD 5.4 billion / EUR 5.2 billion).

Holyvolt is in the process of making a wave of strategic hires, as seen on their recruitment page. Gwen Sandberg has taken on a commercial role, joining from her position as Investment Director at Finnish investment firm Inventure. Other senior figures include CTO Robert Erdmann and CFO Eva Kaijser, who is also on the board of mining company Kaunis Iron.

Building a lab in Munich

So, we’ve now pieced together much of Holyvolt’s story—but there’s still one glaring gap. Holyvolt remains tight-lipped about its actual product, leaving us, and likely many potential stakeholders, eager for details. After some back-and-forth, co-founder Mathias Ingvarsson agrees to a quick chat with Impact Loop.

He confirms that both the investment firm FAM and Volvo have come on board:

“It feels fantastic to have these investors. We are happy that such reputable companies have invested at this early stage,” he says.

Ingvarsson also elaborates on what the company aims to do:

“The idea originated with another company I was involved in that developed heating for ski boots and gloves. There was a certain technology that, as we experimented, we saw could generate heat with a reduced carbon footprint.”

Ancient tech, new applications

“The basis is a 600-year-old technology, traditional screen printing. Now we have a lab in Munich with technically skilled people who are developing it. We are at a research and product development stage. But the idea is that this could be applied in, for instance, solar cell development or battery storage.”

He’s clear that it’s still a long road to manufacturing a commercial product, but he hopes there will be something more concrete to talk about within the next couple of years.

“It’s a way off, but the idea is that our industrial applications will eventually leave the lab and be used on a large scale.”

On Ronnie Leten’s recent appointment as chairman, Ingvarsson says:

“[He’s] an incredibly competent person to bring on board. He’s exceptionally skilled at seeing the big picture and the risks in it. He’s also great at distilling it into structured actions.”

Worked with 50 Cent

This isn’t Mathias Ingvarsson’s first venture. A longtime leader at mattress brand Tempur, Ingvarsson made global headlines when he was featured in Forbes a decade ago as the mind behind Frigo, the men’s underwear company that introduced a unique, high-tech pouch design. The brand attracted further buzz when rapper 50 Cent came on board as an investor.

“That journey was a lot of fun, and 50 Cent is a great guy with a good head for business. That company eventually evolved into a licensing operation,” says Ingvarsson, clarifying that the rapper isn’t involved in Holyvolt.

Holyvolt’s co-founder Hans Victor is also a seasoned entrepreneur, having previously founded FlowMotion Technology, which launched a patented roller skate, and FirstVet, a digital veterinary clinic. The third founder, Peter Lilliehöök, has a background in venture capital consulting.

Documents filed with the Swedish Companies Registration Office confirm that the trio snagged their latest 100 million SEK (about USD 11 million / EUR 9.5 million) in funding in 2023, on top of an earlier 13.6 million SEK (roughly USD 1.5 million / EUR 1.3 million) secured in 2022.

Additional reporting by Maddy Savage