Rimac raised €500M to expand production capacity, Porsche participates in the funding round

Rimac Automobili, a Croatian car manufacturer headquartered in Sveta Nedelja, Croatia, that develops and produces electric sports cars, announced on Wednesday, June 1, that it was able to secure new funds and raised €500 million, which is around $537 million in US dollars.

The EV supercar maker said that investors that participated in its latest investment round include Porsche, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Softbank Vision Fund, and other existing shareholders. According to CNBC, this new funding round pushed Rimac’s value to more than €2 billion.

With the new funds, the carmaker is expected to scale up its plan to turn away from its origins as a small-scale company of high-caliber electric sports cars. It will also continue to make its Nevera car model, which has a price tag of $2.4 million, through a joint venture with Porsche. Rimac Automobili will also push forward with the creation of new model units for the Bugatti brand line of luxury hyper sports cars.

It was last year when Rimac agreed to buy a controlling stake in Bugatti, which has long been part of Germany’s Volkswagen Group. Under the agreement, Rimac and Bugatti merged their sports car businesses in a joint venture between the former and Porsche, a VW subsidiary. Rimac holds a 55% stake in the JV.

In any case, Rimac stated that most of the funds that it has recently gathered in the investment round would be used on its Rimac Technology subsidiary, a unit that develops and produces components for high-performance electric and hybrid automobiles manufactured by big rival car brands. It was reported that Rimac Technology already has an impressive list of big-name clients such as Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Hyundai, Ferrari, Porsche, and Jaguar.

Meanwhile, as Rimac Automobili is intending to expand, it will also be opening new facilities and offices in Europe. Its new headquarters in Croatia’s capital is currently under construction, and this facility is said to have a manufacturing space, a warehouse, laboratories, and offices. This is expected to be completed in 2023, and the company will hire around 700 new employees.

“Rimac has ambitious growth plans in the next few years, and we are humbled by the support of significant new investors like SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Goldman Sachs Asset Management believing in our vision, Rimac’s chief executive officer, Mate Rimac, said in a press release. “Our gratitude also goes to Porsche and InvestIndustrial who have played an important part in our success so far and reinforced their support with new investment.”