The government’s industrial coordinator Kristina Alvendal wants taxpayers to become anchor investors in a new fund worth ten billion SEK, aimed at investing in unlisted companies looking to scale up new technology to industrial production. Taxpayers’ contribution would be up to two billion SEK.
The proposal comes just over a year and a half after battery manufacturer Northvolt went bankrupt, taking with it nearly six billion SEK from the state AP funds’ pension money. The recipient is a government that only remains in office until a new one is installed.
The proposal is backed by the Accelerations Office, the committee established by the government in June 2024 to speed up the industry’s green transition.
In the memorandum presented at the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in Stockholm on Tuesday, the office proposes that the state venture capital company Saminvest receive a capital injection of two billion SEK to invest in the new Acceleration Fund.
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The state may own a maximum of 20 percent of the fund. The rest of the money is expected to come from, among others, pension funds, insurance companies, investment companies, and family-owned investment offices.
The fund should be able to invest up to 500 million SEK in individual companies, with the capital to be invested over about four years. The proposed term is twelve years with the possibility of a two-year extension.
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The funds are intended for unlisted companies in Sweden and the rest of the Nordics, focusing on areas such as environmental technology, deep tech, biotech, and quantum technology. According to Alvendal, the capital already exists, but Swedish pension funds invest it in upscaling funds mainly in the USA, as there is no sufficiently large fund at home.
“The problem is not a lack of capital; it’s fundamentally a coordination failure,” says Kristina Alvendal in a press release.
Same risk as private investors
The Accelerations Office emphasizes that the state should not provide any particular risk relief or subsidy. State money is to be invested on the same terms as private investors, carrying the same risk and return.
Decisions will be made by an external manager procured through competitive bidding, with no political interference. The EU Scaleup Europe Fund, launched in June this year, is mentioned as a model.
The office estimates that every state krona will attract around 7.7 krona in private capital when co-investments are included, but notes that the final outcome will depend on market conditions.
A reasonable return for this type of fund is estimated at about 15 percent, plus or minus five percentage points. This is a goal, not a guarantee, the memorandum notes.
READ ALSO: AP fund invests a billion in Stegra – despite multi-billion loss in Northvolt
Even though the fund will invest over several years, the entire capital injection to Saminvest must be paid out at once, since the company needs to prove the funds are available when commitments are made. The allocation for capital contributions in state-owned companies is therefore proposed to increase by two billion SEK.
Saminvest’s CEO Magnus Skåninger is one of the signatories as Alvendal pushes the proposal on the Dagens industri debate page, together with the heads of Industrifonden, Vinnova, and Business Sweden.
Pension billions lost in Northvolt
The proposal comes after a series of costly setbacks for the green industry initiative. Northvolt declared bankruptcy in March 2025 with debts of nearly 80 billion SEK and around 5,000 employees, the largest bankruptcy in modern Swedish history according to the bankruptcy trustee. The factory in Skellefteå has since been purchased by the American battery company Lyten.
The First to Fourth AP Funds invested 5.8 billion SEK in Northvolt via a joint venture capital company, and the holding has been written down to zero. A government-commissioned investigation has rejected the arrangement, noting that the company lacked employees, capital framework, and a proper investment plan.
Northvolt is not mentioned in the memorandum. The Accelerations Office instead highlights that the fund will spread risk across many companies and that professional private investors will carry the same risk as the state.
Lands with a caretaker government
Alvendal handed over the proposal to David Sikström, State Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Business, Ebba Busch (KD). Since the September election, Ulf Kristersson’s government has been a caretaker government mainly handling routine and urgent matters.
For the fund to become a reality, the parliament must give the government the right to allocate the money. Alvendal is therefore explicitly addressing the incoming government.
“The incoming government now has the opportunity to make history; by deciding on an Acceleration Fund, we can lay the foundation for major, long-term investments in Swedish industrial and technological development for many years ahead,” she says.