ZAGREB, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Croatian electric car manufacturer Rimac Group has raised 500 million euros (536 million U.S. dollars) from Softbank and Goldman Sachs for further growth, production capacity expansion and additional hiring, the company said on Wednesday.
The market value of the company, headquartered in Sveta Nedelja outside Zagreb, is now worth more than 2 billion euros, and Mate Rimac, the 34-year-old founder and CEO, remains the largest shareholder of the company.
The company is set to "establish new manufacturing processes to meet global automotive demand, recruit 700 talented team members in 2022, open new offices in several locations across Europe, and expand our new production facilities," Rimac said in a press release.
With less than 10 employees, Rimac started the company in 2009. In two years, the company produced the world's first electric hypercar, the Concept One, at that time the fastest electric car in the world.
In 2017, the China-based Camel Group invested 30 million euros in the company, which was the single largest foreign direct investment in a Croatian technology company.
A year later, German automobile manufacturer Porsche AG also invested in the company. In 2021, the company completed the merger with Bugatti Automobiles. (1 euro = 1.07 U.S. dollar) ■
