Zeekr, new electric mobility technology and solutions brand by Geely, has raised $500 million in its first external funding from investors including American multinational technology company Intel, battery maker CATL and online entertainment firm Bilibili.
According to Zeekr, the investors would jointly hold a 5.6 percent stake in the company, valuing it at around $9 billion. Zeekr is jointly owned by Geely Automobile and its parent Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.
Investors also included Cathy Fortune Corporation, which invests in mining companies, and private equity firm Boyu Capital that additionally signed long-term investment partnerships with Zeekr, the electric carmaker said in its statement.
The raising was a vote of confidence, the electric carmaker said. Further, it noted that its first 001 models have a sold-out order book for this year and is expected to start delivering them later this year. Zeekr aims to sell 650,000 vehicles a year by 2025.
Zeekr’s investors will help it to access new battery technologies as well as raw materials. Cathay Fortune is a global producer of cobalt and copper, key metals used in the production of electric vehicles (EV) batteries.
Car companies globally are working with more tech companies, battery makers, and mining firms to develop future products and secure the supply of components amid a shift towards EV.
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, the owner of Volvo Cars and a 9.7 percent stakeholder in Daimler, and Geely Automobile launched the Zeekr in March this year to compete with EV companies including Tesla and Nio. They jointly invested $308.4 million into the brand earlier.
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