Enerpoly and the EIC Accelerator: A Battery Plant That Went Bust

Enerpoly, founded in 2018 to commercialise zinc-ion battery research from Stockholm University, made rechargeable zinc batteries for stationary energy storage, pitched as cheaper and safer than lithium-ion and free of critical raw materials. It was selected in the EIC Accelerator's March 2023 cut-off with blended finance and received an EU grant of €2.50 million for EUROZIP, the "European Zinc-Ion Plant", a €16.77 million project that ran from January 2024 and was due to end in December 2025, according to CORDIS. The plan was a 100 MWh-a-year customer qualification plant as a step towards a European gigafactory.

The final report says Enerpoly installed dry-electrode manufacturing equipment, obtained an environmental permit, commissioned its first production line and completed "the first production batch of zinc-ion battery cells", according to the CORDIS reporting page. It adds that "Enerpoly was unable to secure the additional external funding required to continue operations. On 27 June 2025, the company had to stop operations leading to the early termination of the EUROZIP project." Enerpoly AB has been in bankruptcy proceedings since that date, according to Allabolag.

Where Enerpoly Stands Now

Enerpoly is bankrupt. Swedish trade outlet Evertiq reported that it failed to close a financing round and that the bankruptcy trustee, Anders Nilsson, told Breakit: "De hade inte pengar att betala ut lönerna den 25:e", meaning it did not have money to pay salaries on the 25th. The company had about 50 employees. In July 2024 it had bought the production line and equipment of Nilar, a Swedish battery maker whose estate was selling its assets, according to Tech.eu.

The Technology: Zinc Instead of Lithium

Enerpoly's zinc-ion cells are inherently safe, the report says, and use abundant, low-volatility materials sourced in Europe. They can be made on equipment similar to lithium-ion lines but without dry rooms, clean rooms or a drying step, which the company said would lower cost per kWh. The first cells from its plant were made; no independent performance data were published.

What the EIC Award Promised, and What the Record Shows

EUROZIP was Enerpoly's second EIC Accelerator grant. In the May 2020 Green Deal cut-off of the Horizon 2020 EIC Accelerator pilot, it was selected for a grant only for ENERZ, a pilot plant and go-to-market plan for its zinc-ion batteries, according to the European Commission's list of selected companies. The project ran from November 2020 to October 2022 with an EU contribution of €1,634,472 towards a total cost of €2,334,960; its final report says Enerpoly installed a small pilot line, passed a first external safety test with the research institute RISE and switched from licensing its technology to selling its own product, while testing with European battery manufacturers had "yet to be initiated", according to CORDIS. In December 2023 its production line had a capacity of 100 kWh a year and its batteries had been tested against the UL 9540A safety standard, according to pv magazine, but the market entry the project planned for 2022 did not follow: net sales were zero in the financial years to August 2022 and 2023.

The award aimed to prove that zinc-ion cells can be made at competitive cost, yield and speed in a 100 MWh-a-year plant, and to design a gigafactory. The plant was built and commissioned and produced a first batch. Qualification with customers, the cost proof and the gigafactory design were cut short by the bankruptcy.

1. Production line commissionedDeliveredPer final report.
2. First production batchDeliveredPer final report.
3. Customer qualification at scaleNot reachedBankruptcy, June 2025.
4. Gigafactory readinessNot reachedProject terminated.

The Money

The EU grant covered only 15% of the €16.8 million budget, leaving Enerpoly to raise the rest. In its last full financial year, to August 2024, it booked SEK 35 million of income, of which net sales were SEK 67,000, according to its accounts on Allabolag. Whether the EIC Fund invested under the blended finance award, and how much of the grant was paid and recovered, is not public.

What Cannot Be Checked

Why Europe Should Care

Europe wants its own battery industry, and stationary storage is essential for renewable power. Enerpoly followed Nilar, whose production line it bought, into failure. The EIC can pay a fraction of a factory; without private capital for the rest, grants alone cannot carry a hardware company to scale.

The Verdict

Enerpoly's bankruptcy trustee and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.