Zeekr Intelligent Technology has secured a whopping $750 million in Series A financing just two months after filing for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States. The investment came from five sources: Amnon Shashua, the founder and CEO of Mobileye Global Inc., CATL, Yuexiu Industrial Fund, Tongshang Fund, and Xin’an Intelligent Manufacturing Fund. The financing round was announced in a press release by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which is the parent company of Zeekr.
Upon completion of the investment, Zeekr’s valuation will reach $13 billion. The funds will be used to accelerate the development of its proprietary technology and to expand its market coverage globally. Zeekr’s goal is to enter the European market in 2023 and to reach annual sales of 650,000 units by 2025. The company aspires to become one of the top three in the world in terms of market share in premium electric vehicles.
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Li Donghui, the CEO of Geely Holding Group, expressed his confidence in Zeekr’s future growth prospects and stated that the Series-A fundraising is a vote of confidence in the brand. Zeekr was founded on April 15, 2021, and has research and development centers in Gothenburg, Sweden and Hangzhou, China. In October 2021, the company began deliveries of its first model, the Zeekr 001, and has already delivered over 80,000 units. The Zeekr 009 full-size electric MPV started shipping to customers in January 2023.
Geely Automobile Holdings Limited, a Hong Kong-listed company controlled by Geely Holding, announced that Zeekr signed agreements with the five investors to issue 139,375,669 shares of series A preferred stock, which will represent about 5.77% of Zeekr’s fully diluted and converted total share capital. Upon completion of the deal, Geely’s shareholding in Zeekr will decrease from 54.47% to 51.33%.
See also: 2023 Zeekr 001 comes with optional CATL’s Qilin Battery with a range of up to 1,032 km
On December 7, 2022, Geely Automobile Holdings announced that Zeekr filed a draft registration statement for a possible IPO with the SEC on a confidential basis. After the spin-off is completed, Zeekr will continue to be a non-wholly-owned subsidiary of Geely Automobile Holdings, with the maximum applicable percentage ratio expected to be more than 5% but less than 25%.
