Geely’s EV Zeekr Gets $750 Million in ‘Series A’ Funding Round

Geely-backedluxury electric vehicle (EV) brandsZeekr has raised $750 million in its “Series A” funding round, with its value shooting up to $13 billion. 

The Chinese EV brand has been funded by Chinese battery maker CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd), which had previously been one of Zeekr’s backers. Other investors include the CEO and founder of Mobileye Global Amnon Shashua, Yuexiu Industrial Fund or the Guangzhou municipal government investment arm, Tongshang Fund and Xin’an Intelligence Manufacturing Fund. 

The automotive brand said in a statement that it will allocate its proceeds from the Series A funding round to technological research and expanding the brand globally, with plans to enter the European market. 

“The successful signing of the second external funding round represents a significant vote of confidence as Zeekr develops proprietary technologies built around safety, sustainability, user-experience, and new mobility services. Zeekr will use the funds to explore and grow a global sales network,” the statement wrote.  

“This funding round coincides with an accelerating electrification transition across the Geely Holding Group to support zero-emission growth and new mobility technologies,” it added. 

Last December, the rising carmaker confidentially filed for an initial public offering in the U.S., when it was raising $1 billion in proceeds, and was only valued at $10 billion.  

Now that the company has reached $13 million in value, it surpassed fellow Chinese EV manufacturer Xpeng valued at $8.01 billion, but still falls behind Nio and Li Auto, which are valued at $17.22 billion and $25.22 billion respectively.