Investindustrial renews Rimac investment

Croatia’s EV powerhouse Rimac has received another 120 million euros from Investindustrial. The Italian investment fund first took a stake in Rimac in 2021. The renewed investment could be about more than “just” profit since Investindustrial also holds a stake in British sports carmaker Morgan.

First to Rimac’s positioning in which Porsche and Hyundai are also involved: Investindustrial has taken a stake in the Rimac Group, in which, in addition to CEO and founder Mate Rimac, Porsche (previously 24 per cent) and Hyundai (initially 12 per cent), as well as other investors, also hold stakes – whether the stakes have shifted with the new investment remains unclear from the announcement. The Rimac Group, in turn, is, on the one hand, the majority owner of Bugatti-Rimac, which was founded in 2021, with 55 per cent (Porsche holds the remaining 45 per cent); in addition, its subsidiary Rimac Technology is 100 per cent owned by the Rimac Group.

Rimac Technology is a development service provider in high demand in the eMobility industry with expertise in 800-volt systems and other high-performance components for e-drives. For example, Riamc Technology has already worked on behalf of Porsche, Hyundai/Kia, Aston Martin, Koenigsegg and Pininfarina.

According to Rimac and Investindustrial’s communications, the investment fund intends to use the renewed investment “to accelerate the transition to electrification by backing the best available technological solutions for high-performance electric vehicles developed by Rimac Technology”.

However, Rimac Technology seems to have a much more significant impact than Bugatti-Rimac’s few luxury electric cars. Investindustrial predicts that as early as 2025, about one-third of all new vehicles will be electric, with 50 per cent or more expected in subsequent years.

“As Investindustrial, we will put our skills and our international network at Rimac’s service,” says Andrea C. Bonomi, Chairman of Investindustrial’s Industrial Advisory Board. “We want to be a solid, long-term partner in the implementation of the Group’s cutting-edge technologies, which are fundamental for pursuing the objective of further strengthening its leadership in the electric mobility sector.”

There are also speculations that Investindustrial is also, but not only interested in the development of electric mobility in general. The fund’s portfolio also includes the British sports car brand Morgan. Auto, Motor, Sport considers it at least conceivable that Investindustrial would like to secure access to Rimac’s technologies for the Morgan brand. The AMS points out that while Morgan has designed numerous models and show cars with alternative powertrains, none of them has ever been built.

Mate Rimac stresses that it still has big plans. “Despite our evolution from garage to global over the last ten years, we’re only in the early stages of our long-term vision for the Rimac Group,” says the founder. “Next, we grow our family of hypercar models, we begin mass production of a number of major OEM electrification projects and we explore the next revolution in transport.”

Investindustrial is also invested in Ducati and Aston Martin. The latter is already on Rimac’s client list.

With reporting by Sebastian Schaal, Germany.

rimac-automobili.com, siliconcanals.com, auto-motor-und-sport.de (in German)