Chinese language auto large Geely’s EV model raises $750 million in $13 billion valuation

Zeekr’s flagship mannequin, the Zeekr 001, on show in Shanghai, China.

Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Zeekr, an electrical car model of Chinese language billionaire Li Shufu’s Geely Holding Group, introduced on Monday it raised $750 million from traders together with Chinese language billionaire Robin Zeng’s Up to date Amperex Know-how (CATL), the world’s largest EV battery maker by manufacturing capability.

Collaborating within the funding spherical are Israeli billionaire Amnon Shashua, the cofounder and CEO of autonomous car know-how agency Mobileye—acquired by software program large Intel in 2017—and Yuexiu Industrial Fund, the funding arm of Guangzhou’s municipal authorities. The spherical valued the corporate, primarily based within the coastal metropolis of Ningbo in Zhejiang province, at $13 billion.

The funding is “a vote of confidence within the development prospects and powerful way forward for Zeekr,” mentioned Daniel Donghui Li, CEO of Hangzhou-based Geely Holding Group, in a press release. “Geely Holding will proceed to discover methods to unlock worth throughout our portfolio as we pioneer new companies and mobility options to fulfill buyer demand internationally.”

The recent capital will go in the direction of constructing a worldwide gross sales community and enhancing its analysis and growth into proprietary applied sciences, mentioned Zeekr, which was launched by Geely in 2021. That includes AI-powered instruments, comparable to an “anti-skid” driving system and a voice-activated automobile management assistant, the corporate’s flagship mannequin Zeekr 001 can reportedly journey 641 miles on a single cost. By comparability, Tesla’s longest-range Mannequin S tops out at 396 miles.

Zeekr bought over 70,000 vehicles final yr, primarily in mainland China, and intends to faucet into demand inside Europe, the second-largest EV market on the planet after China. In December, the corporate confidentially filed a U.S. IPO, according to Reuters. Zeekr didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Apart from Zeekr, Geely has collaborated with different producers to provide EVs. In 2021, it fashioned a three way partnership with Taiwanese billionaire Terry Gou’s Foxconn—finest referred to as the producer of Apple’s iPhones—to supply contract manufacturing for EV automakers. Final July, it collaborated with Chinese language web large Baidu to unveil its first completely autonomous electrical car, which doesn’t embrace a steering wheel.

Extra broadly, home EV manufacturers profit from a continued nationwide push for inexperienced mobility. In 2022, offers in China’s EV sector reached $5.95 billion, in response to information from analysis agency Preqin. That yr, Chinese language billionaire Wang Chuanfu’s Shenzhen-based EV maker BYD overtook Tesla because the world’s largest vendor of EVs. Regardless of ending subsidies to EV patrons in January, Beijing has reaffirmed its ambition to transition to “clear” transportation, or electrical and hybrid vehicles, by 2035.