Rimac announced that it has secured $537 million in investment via a series-D investment round, including Softbank, Goldman Sachs, and Porsche, who now owns 20% of the company.
While not being used for the Rimac Auto brand, this round of investment was intended to fund the Rimac Technology brand, a company that will be an EV and PHEV parts supplier to other brands. The tech arm of Rimac could also be used to fund a potential venture into self-driving robotaxis, according to Financial Times, which was told by owner Mate Rimac has been in “secret development” for three years. According to Mate Rimac, the company will make everything from EV battery systems and PHEV systems to rolling chassis.
Ultimately, Mate has stated the goal of producing these parts in the thousands, unlike the more limited-run production work done in the other subsidiaries of Rimac Group. Production will be based around their new headquarters built in Zagreb, Croatia, and has garnered the interest of Ferrari, Jaguar, Mercedes Benz, and Renault: with more substantial deals focused on battery production are in the works with Porsche, Hyundai, Koenigsegg, Pininfarina, and Aston Martin.
Mate also intends to use the funds to keep the brand independent from larger investors, in a media call earlier this month, he said, “It is very good for us to have Porsche and Hyundai on board as shareholders, but we don’t want to be dependent on them,” he said. When paired with the interest they are finding from many other automakers, this sounds more achievable than previously thought.
According to Crunchbase, Rimac has held a total of 8 investment rounds that have included 9 different investors totaling nearly $900 million. This comes shortly after Rimac merged with the Bugatti brand last November. Rimac Technology is Rimac Group’s third subsidiary, while Bugatti focuses on the new Chiron, and the Rimac Automobili brand focuses on the Nevara hypercar to be released this Summer.
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