French start-up Verkor on Thursday took a decisive step towards realizing its ambitious battery plant. The company managed to complete a record round of fundraising, which aroused the enthusiasm of both private investors and the French state. The goal is to counter Asian competition and stimulate the production of electric vehicles in Europe.

Vercor announced that he had collected “more than 2 billion euros” for his project, including a record amount ” at least 850 million euros » from private investors. This is the largest fundraising ever held by a French startup.

An important battery factory for France

This amount has been supplemented state subsidy in the amount of about 650 million euros (subject to verification by the European Commission) and a loan of EUR 600 million from the European Investment Bank.

Emmanuel Macron warmly welcomed this success in the company’s press release, describing this round of funding as “a strong signal about our reindustrialization ambitions”. He also emphasized that France “attracts investment, strengthens its industrial sector, decarbonises its economy and creates jobs”.

This operation prompted the Verkor assessment “more than a billion euros”according to Benoit Lemeignan, the company’s co-founder and president, who said the total could rise within weeks.

Founded in 2020, Verkor recently opened a pilot plant for the production of high-capacity batteries in Grenoble. it intends to open its giant battery plant in Dunkirk by 2025. The project promises to create 1,200 direct jobs and initially produce 16 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of batteries per year.

The first construction works are already underway, and financing guarantees the effective implementation of the plant. Verkor is closely monitored by the French government because This plant should contribute to the achievement of the goal of producing two million electric cars in France by 2030thus “ending” years of outsourcing in the automotive sector.

Who are the main investors?

A wide range of investors participated in this fundraising. Australian asset manager Macquarie Asset Management is a “lead investor” backed by Meridiam, a French infrastructure company that has contributed €200m. These two companies will become the first shareholders of Verkor.

Other key players have also joined the initiative, including Crédit Agricole Assurances and Fonds Stratégique de Participations (FSP), an alliance of seven French insurance companies.

Renault, which has committed to purchase a significant portion of Verkor’s battery production, has also joined this fundraiser. Future Alpine models will also be equipped with Verkor batteries “other cars from higher segments from 2025”according to Luca de Meo, boss of the Renault Group.

We will remind you that France is in the process of formation a large center for the production of batteries for electric vehicles. Further south, in Douvrin (north), Stellantis, TotalEnergies and Mercedes have set up France’s first battery factory for electric vehicles in partnership with their joint venture Automotive Cells Company (ACC). In addition, Renault also plans to open its own plant in 2024 in collaboration with the Chinese group AESC-Envision, also in the northern region, in Douai.

Read also:
• France inaugurates its first battery factory
• How many battery plants are there in Europe?
• How many jobs will be created by the new battery factories in France?