Zeekr, which is a premium electric vehicle brand under Geely, has announced strategic partnerships with five companies that will see them invest a total of USD 500 million (around RM2.086 billion) in a Pre-A funding round. The investing parties will receive an aggregate shareholding of around 5.6% in Zeekr, while also providing their expertise to accelerate the development of new technologies in the EV space.
The lead investor in this newly established ecosystem of partners is Intel Capital, with other participants being EV battery marker CATL, Bilibili (a pioneer of online entertainment and video content amongst the younger generation), cobalt and copper producer Cathay Fortune Group as well as asset management firm Greater China.
The deals announced come after Geely said back in June that it wanted to explore different external financing solutions to accelerate the Zeekr’s future sustainable development. When Zeekr (then known as Zeekr Intelligent Mobility) was founded in March this year, the company was 51% owned by Geely Automobile Holding (51%) and 49% by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (ZGH).
In July, Chinese news outlets reported that Zeekr Intelligent Mobility would be renamed to Zeekr Automobile, and Geely would no longer be the majority shareholder in the company. Instead, the new shareholder at the time became a subsidiary (Shanghai Maple Guorun Automobile) of Shanghai Maple Automobile, which is 90% controlled by ZGH. Effectively, Geely still “owns” Zeekr, but with a few more degrees of separation.
Currently, Zeekr only has the 001 in its line-up, which has been well received in the market, and the company is looking to expand the number of offerings with six more launches over three years. The goal is to become a top EV brand by 2025 with 650,000 units in sales, Nikkei Asia reports. The new partners and the money they bring in will help Zeekr with its mission without having to issue an initial public offering (IPO), which can be risky.
The post Geely’s Zeekr EV brand secures USD500 mil in funding appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.
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