China's Geely raises $500m for Zeekr EV unit

The investment - Zeekr's first external funding round - values the business at approximately $9 billion. The new investors will own 5.6%, while Geely’s equity interest will fall from 51% to 48%, according to a statement.

Deliveries of Zeekr's debut vehicle - the 001 model - are expected to begin later this year. The company is targeting sales of 650,000 vehicles per year by 2025.

Three independent Chinese EV manufacturers – Nio, Xpeng, and Li Auto – have already gone public, while the likes of WM Motor and Enovate continue to attract private funding. Various traditional domestic carmakers, like Geely, are also pushing into the space, although most target lower price points than their independent peers.

Additional competition is coming from other sectors. Real estate developer China Evergrande followed up on its acquisition of Sweden's NEVS last year by securing funding for Evergrande New Energy Vehicle. 

Earlier this year, mobile phone maker Xiaomi said it would plow $10 billion into EVs over the next decade. More recently, it acquired local autonomous driving technology developer Deepmotion to support smart EV efforts, facilitating exits for several VC investors.

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• Topics
• Greater China
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• Xiaomi
• Boyu Capital
• Intel Capital