Northvolt was Europe's flagship battery champion, backed by Volkswagen, Goldman Sachs, BMW, and BlackRock, and capitalized with over $13 billion in debt and equity. Yet between 2022 and 2025, it became the largest industrial bankruptcy in modern Swedish history, shocking the industry and investors alike. We took a look back at SESAM’s controversy data to see if there were any early warning signals.
The Warning Signs
In September 2022, the first public reports of production delays emerged at Northvolt's Skellefteå gigafactory. By the end of 2023, less than 1% of the planned 16 GWh capacity for 2024 had been delivered. Then came the fatal workplace accidents linked to electrical experiments, and in June 2024, BMW canceled a €2 billion contract. By September, 1,600 employees had been laid off, the cathode expansion was abandoned, and the CFO was replaced.
The Fallout
The consequences were swift. A Chapter 11 filing in the U.S. in November 2024. The resignation of founder and CEO Peter Carlsson. Over 5,000 jobs lost. Major write-downs across the cap table, from sovereign-backed pension funds to global automakers. In March 2025, Northvolt filed for bankruptcy in Sweden, the largest industrial failure in the country's modern history. The reputational damage extended well beyond the company itself, reaching investors, suppliers, and the broader European battery ambition.
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FinTech and Big Data for financial markets – SESAMm raises €2.6 million Euros. Objective: to accelerate its international development!
SESAMm – a specialist in the exploitation of applied Big Data to asset management – has just finalized a capital raise representing a new acceleration phase of its growth. The company is aiming to become a leader in the fields of alternative data and artificial intelligence for the financial markets.
Innovative and powerful solutions to forecast the markets
SESAMm, with its offices in Metz, Paris and Luxembourg, developed two highly innovative asset management solutions to forecast the markets. The first solution, since 2014, is the Data Stream Premium, a predictive trading signal generation service based on Big Data and artificial intelligence. It enables the alternative Investment Funds and the Hedge Funds to generate outperformance in the financial markets, and this first solution attracted major players in the sector.
In 2017, L’Humeur des Marchés was launched, a data visualization platform as well as an API access (Programming Interface), which offers alternative analysis and data on many thousands of assets, available in 8 languages including Chinese and Japanese. This perfectioning of the algorithms and tools, which improves the arbitration decisions, the research and exploitation of market opportunities, increases the international notoriety of SESAMm.
“The American multinationals are interested in us, this is very promising.” reveals Sylvain Forte, co-founder and CEO of SESAMm. “In one year, we have almost doubled our staff and we plan to hire more than a dozen of new employees until the end of 2018 in fields such as data science, software development, automatic language processing, and quantitative analysis. We have the objective of doubling our turnover for the year 2018 and we are aiming €20 millions of turnover by 2021.“
An expanding Startup
Today, the startup SESAMm has offices in 3 cities in France and Luxembourg; SESAMm has 18 employees and relies on top profiles in the fields of artificial intelligence and quantitative analysis. Its commercial activity is booming, with the recent signing of two big agreements with Nikko Global Wrap (one of the subsidiaries of Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management, a major asset manager in Japan) managing JPY 1.7 trillion and La Française Investment Solutions, a subsidiary of the Group La Française (in the top 10 of asset management in France, managing $64 billion).
“Our objective is to enhance our positioning in France and then in Europe, particularly in the beginning of this year with a new subsidiary in London. Our development will also go through the United States. The growth prospects of our market are strong: from $67 billion in 2014, the market for software for asset management should grow to nearly $104 billion in 2019 according to MarketsAndMarkets”, stated Sylvain Forte.
Capital raising: confidence and growth
The bank “Caisse d’Epargne Lorraine Champagne-Ardenne” and the fund “Fonds Venture Numérique Lorrain” are the main investors in this capital raising in which BPI, the bank “Banque Populaire de Lorraine”, the network of “Bourgogne Angels” and other national and international business angels have confirmed and renewed their support and participation. And thanks to their supports, SESAMm can accelerate its national and international growth.
“We are proud for being the first investors to believe in the potential of SESAMm and we are looking forward to this new capital raising,” explains Marie Tribout, chairman of the fund “Fonds Venture Numérique Lorrain”. “We participate in this capital raise for two main reasons: first, our conviction about the relevance of the SESAMM project and its team excellence; secondly, this participation is part of our Neobusiness system extension, which is based on supporting closely the growth of startups in our region.” said Benoît Mercier, chairman the bank “Caisse d’Epargne Lorraine Champagne- Ardenne”.
“Our partners trust is precious” explains Pierre Rinaldi, co-founder and COO of SESAMm.” It validates the excellent performance of our technologies, which are improved continuously by our R & D center. We have new applications in the works.”
For this fundraise, SESAMm has been helped by Eric Bezard, specialist in administrative and financial management and equity capital markets, from the financial consulting firm TMA. SESAMm was also helped by the Parisian business lawyers firm Orrick with a team led by George Rigo, associate, with his collaborators Olivier Vuillod and Cécile Renaud.
Unique and innovative technologies
“SESAMm is a valuable partner for Eagle Alpha”, said Hugh O’Connor, the director of Data Sourcing and Partnerships at Eagle Alpha. “The SESAMm products provide a level of scientific rigor, transparency and flexibility that distinguishes the company from other market players.”
“The French Investment Solutions is collaborating with the SESAMm team in order to explore potential investment approaches based on artificial intelligence. The LFIS (La Française Investment Solutions) uses SESAMm technologies in order to exploit the Big Data in the field of quantitative management “, said Guillaume Garchery, the portfolio manager and head of the quantitative research R&D at La Française Investment Solutions.
SESAMm, the leading provider of controversy data, is pleased to announce that ENGIE has chosen SESAMm to strengthen its ESG risks monitoring of subsidiaries, including positive impact news.
SESAMm delivers real-time controversy data on millions of private and public companies, leveraging multilingual large language models to analyze content from more than 4 million sources in 100+ languages. This enables SESAMm to surface potential red flags such as human rights violations, corruption, and environmental breaches, even in hard-to-assess, non-listed firms, while also highlighting positive impact events.
With SESAMm’s AI-powered platform, ENGIE will supplement its ESG analysis tools for its global operations. This includes early detection of controversies, benchmarking against industry peers, and surfacing positive achievements that reinforce ENGIE’s role in the energy transition.
“We’re proud to support ENGIE in monitoring both risks and opportunities,” said Sylvain Forté, CEO and co-founder of SESAMm. “Our AI-driven insights will help their teams anticipate challenges, benchmark effectively, and showcase progress in building a more sustainable future.”
About ENGIE
ENGIE is a major player in the energy transition, whose purpose is to accelerate the transition towards a carbon-neutral economy. With 98,000 employees in 30 countries, the Group covers the entire energy value chain, from production to infrastructure and sales. ENGIE combines complementary activities: renewable electricity and green gas production, flexibility assets (notably batteries), gas and electricity transmission and distribution networks, local energy infrastructures (heating and cooling networks), and the supply of energy to individuals, local authorities, and businesses. Every year, ENGIE invests more than €10 billion to drive forward the energy transition and achieve its net-zero carbon goal by 2045. Learn more at www.engie.com.
About SESAMm
SESAMm is a global leader in controversy data, leveraging advanced large language models and generative AI to uncover ESG, reputational, and supplier risks in seconds. Our AI-powered platform surfaces real-time insights, even in low-disclosure markets, on millions of companies and infrastructure projects, supporting more informed decisions, enhanced due diligence, and regulatory alignment at scale. We work with leading firms, including Carlyle, Warburg, Natixis, RBI, Sustainable Fitch, Oddo, and others. SESAMm has raised $50M from renowned investors and operates across four continents. Learn more at www.sesamm.com.
SESAMm’s AI Technology Reveals ESG Insights
Discover unparalleled insights into ESG controversies, risks, and opportunities across industries. Learn more about how SESAMm can help you analyze millions of private and public companies using AI-powered text analysis tools.
As 2025 kicks off, we stopped to take a look at the significant environmental, social, and governance (ESG) controversies of 2024, as we do every year. In this article, we dive into the three public companies with the most controversies for each pillar: environmental, social, and governance, analyzing the companies and the wider impact of the controversies themselves. Join us as we analyze these key moments that have not only influenced public opinion but also shaped the future of responsible business practices.
ESG Risks: Focus 2024
Starting with environmental risks, biodiversity and ecosystems, climate change, waste management, and atmospheric pollution emerged as the most scrutinized sub-risks in 2024. These issues were primarily tied to greenwashing, such as the Mercer Super case and energy companies' expansions at the expense of climate change.
Meanwhile, for social controversies, working conditions and fundamental human rights took center stage. Notably, some companies were linked to forced labor, while coffee supply chains were linked to child labor. Boycotts over the war on Gaza have also been a major highlight of 2024.
Environmental Controversies: Top 3 Public Companies
Shell
In 2024, Shell faced a host of environmental controversies, particularly through its Nigerian subsidiary, Nigeria Delta, which was implicated in serious water pollution due to oil spills. The company dealt with several other notable controversies, including a €15 million compensation related to the spills, a New York City lawsuit over climate change, and a landmark emissions ruling from a Dutch court. Additionally, the company faced condemnation from U.S. lawmakers for alleged greenwashing practices, a carbon credit scandal, and a water contamination lawsuit resolved with a $230 million settlement.
ExxonMobil
2024 was a challenging year for ExxonMobil. First, its Hammerhead project was hit by an FDA-required Environmental Impact Assessment to evaluate the potential ecological risks. Then, conflicts with Venezuela arose over environmental concerns, followed by several U.S. lawsuits. California, Kansas, and Puerto Rico all sued the company for issues ranging from global plastic pollution and greenwashing to trade law violations. Additionally, ExxonMobil was targeted in a climate lawsuit and faced ongoing fallout from the 1989 oil spill. Protests from groups like CalPERS and student activists highlighted dissatisfaction with ExxonMobil’s environmental practices, emphasizing the company's broad regulatory and public relations challenges.
TotalEnergies
Coming in at number three, TotalEnergies dealt with several environmental controversies, notbably protests related to its East African crude oil pipeline project in Tanzania and Uganda. The company has also been accused of greenwashing and misleading sustainability claims while struggling with oil leaks at its Donges refinery and Egina field. On top of these environmental controversies, TotalEngeries faced key governance and social controversies, including a $48 million fine by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for attempting to manipulate the European gasoline market in March 2018. There are also ongoing investigations into an attack in Mozambique.
Social Controversies: Top 3 Public Companies
Boeing
In 2024, Boeing faced significant challenges due to safety concerns and production controversies, which have fueled employee unrest and public skepticism. Recent incidents, including a missing door plug attachment on a Boeing 737 Max and investigations into quality control lapses at Boeing and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems, have eroded trust among small businesses reliant on the manufacturer. Whistleblower testimonies and increasing scrutiny from Congress and the FAA highlight systemic safety failures. These developments suggest a difficult path ahead for Boeing as it works to regain credibility amid ongoing struggles.
Pfizer
In 2024, Pfizer faced scrutiny after EU documents revealed over 4.9 million adverse events and 3,280 deaths linked to its COVID-19 vaccine, especially among women and individuals aged 31-50. Critics allege Pfizer continued distribution despite knowing the risks, questioning the EMA's approval. Additionally, DNA contaminants, including carcinogenic SV40 sequences, have been reported in the vaccines. A whistleblower disclosed that Pfizer employees were offered a "separate" COVID vaccine, raising concerns about access inequality. Kansas has filed a lawsuit accusing Pfizer of misleading the public about vaccine safety; meanwhile, the company faces fines in the UK for excessive pricing of an anti-epileptic drug.
Meta
In 2024, Meta faced intense scrutiny and legal challenges due to multiple controversies, including a significant data breach, allegations of failing to protect children, and privacy concerns. The company settled a $1.4 billion lawsuit related to facial recognition practices and was fined $220 million by Nigeria for violating data laws. Additional lawsuits from school districts and the Consumer Protection Association highlighted issues related to social media addiction and mental health impacts on teenagers.
Governance Controversies: Top 3 Public Companies
Alphabet
2024 was a legally challenging year for Alphabet, facing numerous antitrust issues globally. For instance, Allegro sued Alphabet for $568 million over anti-competitive practices, and the U.S. Justice Department accused Google of monopolies in the search engine and Android app markets. It has also faced an antitrust ruling, which it plans to appeal. In Europe, Google was scrutinized under the Digital Markets Act and fined 71 million euros in Turkey for anti-competitive behavior. Additionally, France imposed a $271 million fine on Google for using news content without publisher consent, and India began investigating Google's gaming app policies. These incidents highlight Alphabet’s ongoing regulatory battles across multiple continents.
In conclusion, the controversies surrounding environmental, social, and governance issues in 2024 have underscored the urgent need for accountability and transparency within corporations. As these companies grapple with significant backlash and legal challenges, it is clear that stakeholder expectations are evolving. The demand for responsible practices is louder than ever, and the consequences of neglecting these issues can be severe, impacting not just public perception but also financial stability and sustainability.
SESAMm’s AI Technology Reveals ESG Insights
Discover unparalleled insights into ESG controversies, risks, and opportunities across industries. Learn more about how SESAMm can help you analyze millions of private and public companies using AI-powered text analysis tools.
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