EIB supports Rimac with a €30 million R&D loan

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 an industrial-scale producer of components for the global automotive sector, a press release reads. 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. Rimac has been making strides over the last few years, the company recently announced that it had doubled in size over the last 12 months, now employing over 450 people with the majority of them in R&D. And the company has a very clear goal; to become one of the major employers and exporters in Croatia. To reach this goal Rimac will also use the loan to accelerate its R&D activities and at the same time increase sales and marketing efforts to enable planned expansion into Asia and Europe. “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,” says Founder and CEO, Rimac Automobili Mate Rimac, in the press release. “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.”