Polestar, a leading Swedish automotive company owned by Volvo Cars, as well as its parent firm, Chinese automotive firm, Geely, has reportedly announced that it has raised over $550 million in external funding.
According to reports, the new financing is supposedly Polestar’s first-ever external funding. This comes at a time when the automotive industry is seeing about a year of continued sales as well as share price growth when it comes to electric vehicle makers like Nio Inc., and Tesla Inc.
Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polestar, stated that the company’s latest investors have recognized Polestar’s ability to offer an attractive combination of well-established technological and industrial capability, all while ensuring a superlative potential for growth as the international auto industry focuses on going electric.
Reliable reports cite, the newly raised funding amount would help the company accelerate its product development as well as output. The timing is considered quite ideal, as Polestar prepares to rollout a number of novel car models over the coming years.
For the uninitiated, Polestar designs and manufactures hybrid performance vehicles in China’s western city of Chengdu. The company also produces a sedan model in the country’s eastern region, out of its Taizhou plant. At present, the company also has a brand-new model under development, called the Precept, which is a bigger, more eco-friendly sedan. Polestar had displayed the Precept at an auto show in China back in 2020.
As per the company, Chinese investors Zibo and Chongqing Chengxing Equity Investment Fund Partnership led the external funding, with backing from I Cube Capital, a leading investor from South Korea.
The company also stated that it is currently in ongoing discussions with several other investors regarding the raising of some more additional funds.
Meanwhile, it has also been reported that Geely is exploring a possible U.S. listing for Polestar by making an agreement with a SPAC (special-purpose acquisition company). This move, according to credible sources, is part of Geely’s plan to elevate Polestar's market valuation to over $40 billion, a drastic jump from its existing valuation of an estimated $7 billion.
Source credit: https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN2C20FR