Polestar, the Sweden-based electric vehicle (EV) developer spun off by automotive manufacturer Volvo Cars, received $550m in funding from investors including conglomerate SK Group yesterday.
Chongqing Chengxing Equity Investment Fund Partnership co-led the round with Zibo Financial Holding and Zibo Hightech Industrial Investment, and it included undisclosed other participants. It represents the brand’s first external funding.
Volvo bought Polestar’s predecessor, a touring car racing team of the same name, in 2015 and announced its intention to begin developing EVs under its brand two years later. It has since released a hybrid electric sports car called Polestar 1 and an all-electric fastback model dubbed Polestar 2.
The offshoot maintains a dedicated production facility in China, where Volvo Cars parent company, carmaker Geely, is based, in addition to a sales and distribution network. It said yesterday it is in ongoing talks with other investors to potentially expand the round.
Polestar’s chief executive, Thomas Ingenlath, said: “Our new investors have recognised that Polestar offers an alluring combination of established industrial and technological capability alongside superlative growth potential as the global auto industry goes electric.”
The news came on the same day as Geely launched a premium electric car brand called Zeekr, which is designed to appeal to Generation Z buyers, with approximately $306m of funding.
Photo courtesy of Polestar.
