Spotify CEO backs Tesla rival after pledging to invest over $1 billion in European ‘moonshots’

Spotify CEO backs Tesla rival after pledging to invest over $1 billion in European ‘moonshots’

Drew Angerer / Getty Images LONDON — Daniel Ek, the founder and chief executive of Spotify, has invested in Swedish battery firm Northvolt, which is building a Gigafactory in Sweden's Lapland region.Stockholm-headquartered Northvolt announced Tuesday that it has raised $600 million in equity funding from Ek, Swedish businesswoman Cristina Stenbeck, and institutional investors like Baillie Gifford, Baron Capital Group, Bridford Investments Limited, Norrsken VC and PCS Holding. Current Northvolt shareholders Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, IMAS Foundation, Scania and Volkswagen have also participated in the funding round.The investment in the Tesla rival comes less than a week after Ek pledged to invest 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) of his own wealth into "moonshot" bets in Europe. According to Forbes, Ek is worth $3.7 billion, indicating he's allocating roughly a third of