History
The groundwork for the company was laid in 2007 as a hobby garage activity of Mate Rimac.[7][8] Working on his own, he converted his BMW 3 Series (E30) to incorporate an electric powertrain and subsequently gained attention from the press and investors.[8] A significant part of the early financing came from angel investors and the sale of proprietary patents.[8]
Rimac Automobili was founded in 2009 in Sveta Nedelja, near Zagreb, Croatia, where suitable facilities were rented.[8][9] When he was 19 years old, Mate Rimac began converting an E30-M3 which served as his first test mule:[10]"'I owned an old BMW E30 (MY 1984) which I used for drift and circuit races. At one of these races, the gas engine suddenly blew up. At that moment, I decided to try building an EV. After one year or so the car was able to drive but I was not yet satisfied with the result. It was heavy, not very powerful and the range was very limited. For this reason, I started to gather a team of experts to develop our own components since I believed that the electric propulsion could give much more compared to what was available on the market. At that time, I already had a very clear vision of my ultimate goal. Today, hard work is making my dream come true.'"In 2018, Volkswagen Group subsidiary Porsche Engineering Group GmbH acquired a 10% stake in Rimac to form a development partnership, as part of its electrification process.[11][12][13] Mate Rimac commented: "This partnership now is an important step for Rimac on our way to become a component and system supplier of choice for the industry in electrification, connectivity and the exciting field of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems."[12] Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors jointly invested €80 million in 2019 and announced plans "to collaborate on the development of high-performance electric vehicles."[14] In 2020, Rimac recommended Infinum, the largest Balkan software and design company, to Porsche and that led to the creation of the joint venture Porsche Digital Croatia with an investment of €10 million.[15][16]
In March 2021, Porsche increased its stake in Rimac Automobili from 15% to 24%.[17]
In July 2021, VW Group's Porsche and Rimac announced a joint venture that would incorporate Volkswagen's high-performance Bugatti brand as well as Rimac Automobili. The new venture is called Bugatti Rimac.[18] In this venture, Rimac Group holds a 55% stake, while Porsche owns the remaining 45%. [19] in June of that year, Porsche stated it was one of the participants in a new €500 million round of fundraising.[20]
In September 2023, Rimac Tokyo and Rimac Katowice were established in Japan and Poland, respectively.[21]
