Investment Plan for Europe: EIB supports Croatian Rimac Automobili in development of high performance electric vehicles and components
- EIB and Croatian Rimac Automobili sign EUR 30 million loan for investment in research and development of electric vehicles and related components;
- Transaction is guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the heart of the Investment Plan for Europe
- Rimac will scale up its activities, accelerate investments into RDI, industrialisation and ramp-up its production capabilities
The European Investment Bank announced that it will provide EUR 30 million loan to the innovative car company Rimac Automobili. The financing will allow the company to further develop its electric driving technologies. It will also support the company`s transformation into a technology solutions provider for electric vehicles and a industrial-scale producer of components for the global automotive sector.
The financing comes in the form of growth capital loan, under the European Growth Finance Facility (EGFF), a mechanism launched in 2016.
Enabled by a guarantee form the EU budget, under the Investment plan for Europe (the Junker plan) the loan will allow Rimac Automobili to continue its strong growth. The company has doubled in size over the last 12 months, now employing over 450 people with the majority of them in R&D. Rimac’s goal is to become, one of the major employers and exporters in Croatia. Rimac will also use the loan to accelerate its research and development and increase sales and marketing effort to enable planned expansion into Asia and Europe.
Vice president of the European Investment Bank Dario Scannapieco said: “Today EIB partners with a company that writes the history of the global automotive industry. EIB is proud to support job creation, support the local economy and Croatian exports, as well as transition to environment friendly transport, and advance the European science, research and development. Rimac is a great story of success build on determination, vision and innovation and one of the reasons why the EIB exists – to support trail-blazing, innovative companies capable of developing not just themselves but their industries and their communities too.”
European Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc said: “Decarbonisation is at the heart of our transport policy. I welcome this new project under the Juncker Plan, which will help develop innovative solutions for electro-mobility in Europe and stimulate the demand for zero-emission vehicles, alongside our efforts to deploy the alternative fuels infrastructure. Coupling decarbonisation and innovation with job creation is truly a win-win for all. “
Founder and CEO of Rimac Automobili Mate Rimac said: “It is a long and difficult road to build an automotive and technology company, especially in a country where nothing similar has been done. Access to capital was very difficult for us in the early days, with investment activity in this part of Europe being quite low. However, based on our results and accomplishments, more and more international strategic partners such as Porsche, are ready to invest in the company. We welcome EIB’s initiative to enable later-stage startups to have an alternative to traditional equity investment. This funding will help us accelerate our efforts and scale faster and bigger.”
“As part of its recently published Innovative Transport study, EIB’s Innovation Finance Advisory (IFA) identified and sourced Rimac as a highly innovative company in the EV automotive sector. IFA provided advisory services to Rimac on refining its business plan and funding structure in preparation for an EIB financing. This demonstrates the clear added value of EIB’s integrated advisory and financing approach available to companies in Europe to strengthen their competitiveness in the context of the Investment Plan for Europe.”
Source: eib.org
