The Geely-backed ZEEKR brand raised $750 million in a recent Series A funding round valuing the brand at 13 billion dollars!
ZEEKR’s $750 million funding round was led by EV battery giants CATL, as well as four other major investors as the brand looks to expand to new markets in Europe, SE Asia, and beyond that, into a possible IPO in the US. (!)
There’s plenty of reason, too, to believe that ZEEKR will meet expectations. Consider that the company launched with its high-performance 001 model (shown, above) in 2021 with 400 miles of EV range as a high-end spinoff of the Volvo and Polestar brands targeting young, nouveau-riche markets (read: Singapore and China).
Those companies provided much of the new brand’s early engineering know-how, but its sales success has, so far, been its own. The brand handily beat its stated 2022 goal of delivering 70,000 ZEEKR electric cars to clients, and continues to successfully expand into key European markets for 2023 with more mainstream products like the ZEEKR X.
According to an internal letter to staff obtained by CnEVPost, ZEEKR CEO Andy An believes the Chinese domestic EV market will be especially competitive in 2023. To meet the challenges presented by their home market, An laid out five key tasks for the ZEEKR team, including entry into Europe and 140,000 EVs deliveries. An’s letter reads, “the 140,000-unit delivery goal will be a hard battle, and we have to accomplish that mission.”
That Series A round, meanwhile, similarly outperformed the brand’s goals — they were originally targeting “just” $10B in valuation. “The Series-A fundraising is a vote of confidence in the growth prospects and strong future of ZEEKR, which becomes the latest brand in the Geely Holding portfolio to secure a strong valuation,” said Geely CEO Daniel Donghui Li, ZEEKR’s latest valuation. “Geely Holding will continue to explore ways to unlock value across our portfolio as we pioneer new services and mobility solutions to meet customer demand across the world.”
SOURCE | IMAGES: ZEEKR, VIA ELECTREK.
FTC: We use income-earning auto affiliate links. Learn more.
