Zeekr IPO: Everything you need to know about Zeekr

What do we know about the Zeekr IPO?

Zeekr, one of the electric vehicle (EV) brands from Chinese conglomerate Geely, confidentially filed for a US-based IPO in December 2022. It would be the first major Chinese tech company to go public in the US since the country’s crackdown on the sector nearly two years ago. Representatives for the People’s Bank of China announced on January 9 that the institute plans to ease the regulatory pressures exerted on tech companies since 2020, creating more favorable conditions for new companies in the industry.

Since filling for an IPO in December 2022, Zeekr has raised $750 million in its latest round of Series-A funding completed February 2023. Its post-money valuation has risen from $9 billion to $13 billion, possibly giving the EV company the forward momentum needed to go ahead with its public listing. Notable investors involved in this latest funding round include Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd., several Chinese state-owned funds and Mobileye co-founder and CEO Amnon Shashua.

Additionally, in August 2022 a deal was brokered between China and the US to protect more than 200 New York-listed Chinese companies from being delisted when the audit work of those companies was made available to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) in the US.

When is the Zeekr IPO?

The date of the Zeekr IPO has not yet been set, but a Geely rep stated company executives are hoping to go public sometime in 2023. If the market shows positive signals, Zeekr could list as early as the second quarter of the year.

This would make Zeekr the first major Chinese company to list in the US in almost two years. In 2022, only five Chinese companies went public in the US. They raised a combined $162.5 million, much less than the $12.8 billion raised by Chinese companies in 2021.

How much is Zeekr worth?

Zeekr is valued at $13 billion after completing a Series-A funding round in February 2013. This exceeds the company’s previous goal of a $10 billion valuation post-IPO, which is still set to occur sometime in 2023.

How to trade Zeekr stock?

Once Zeekr has been listed, you’ll be able to trade its shares in the same way as any other stock on the market.

In the meantime, you can trade thousands of other shares with City Index in these easy steps:

1. Open a City Index account, or log in if you’re already a customer
2. Search for the company you want to trade in our award-winning platform
3. Choose your position and size, and your stop and limit levels
4. Place the trade

Alternatively, you can practise trading shares in a risk-free demo account.

What does Zeekr do?

Zeekr produces two electric vehicle models for delivery in China. Founded in 2021, Zeekr is the latest luxury brand from the Chinese conglomerate Geely, which owns and operates a number of electric vehicle brands. The name Zeekr is derived from the words ‘geek’ and ‘generation Z,’ meant to signal the brand’s focus on technology and the youngest generation of consumers.

Zeekr is the first vehicle built on Geely’s Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) platform. So far two models have been developed. The Zeekr 001 is a dual motor, all-wheel-drive executive car featuring a shooting brake body released in China in 2021. Zeekr’s second model, the 009, is a minivan featuring the same dual motor, all-wheel-drive capabilities scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2023.

The Chinese EV company has cinched two deals with high-profile tech companies Waymo and Mobileye.

• Zeekr announced a partnership with Waymo in December 2021 to develop an autonomous ride-hailing EV for the US. They are one of many companies partnered with Waymo, a tech company developing autonomous vehicle technology using machine learning
• Mobileye is another autonomous driving tech company which supplies computer vision systems for vehicles. Mobileye’s latest developments focus on features like lane assist, intelligent cruise control and fully self-driving systems. Almost every automaker uses Mobileye camera sensors except for Tesla

Besides Zeekr, Geely owns vehicle brands Volvo, Polestar, Lotus and others. Geely is also a top shareholder of Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes.

How does Zeekr make money?

Zeekr makes money through sales of its 001 and 009 models. In 2021 Zeekr sold 6,007 of its 001 model, and in 2022 the company sold a combined estimate of 72,000 of both the 001 and 009 models.

A representative for Zeekr has stated that the company hopes to double sales this year to about 140,000.

Is Zeekr profitable?

There is no information on Zeekr’s profitability, as the company has not made its earnings reports public. Like other Chinese automobile startups, Zeekr is likely not profitable and instead focusing on rapid expansion despite the rising cost of raw materials and supply chain charges.

However, parent company Geely Automobile Holdings published three earnings reports quarters in 2022. In both the first and second quarters of 2022, the Chinese holding company reported an EBITDA profit of $776 million.

Learn how to read an earnings report. 

What is Zeekr’s business model?

Zeekr’s business model is to expand its sales to other countries and develop prototypes with popular autonomous-vehicle technology companies. The company is targeting 650,000 sales per year by 2025.

The company has stated it will begin selling vehicles in Europe in the first quarter of 2023, outfitted with assisted diving systems engineered by Mobileye.

Zeekr representatives have stated they have no plans to enter the US market. However, the vehicles built with Waymo are designed for deployment in the U.S..

Despite keeping a majority of its focus on the Chinese market, a company rep stated they chose to list in the US over Hong Kong in hopes of achieving a higher valuation.

Who are Zeekr’s competitors?

Zeekr’s closest competitors are other luxury-brand EVs like Nio and Tesla. Both companies lost more than 60% of their market cap in 2022 amid stock market volatility and the Fed’s struggle to curb inflation.

Compared to some of their competitors’ sales figures in shared markets, Zeekr is a relatively small brand. In the first three quarters of 2022, Zeekr sold just over 60,000 cars in China while Tesla sold about 285,000 of their model Ys in the same period. Read our ongoing Tesla coverage here.

Nio is another Chinese-based company which publicly trades on the New York and Singapore Stock Exchanges (NIO) and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (9866). The company currently delivers to seven countries and special administrative regions and plans to expand to 25 by 2025.

Who owns Zeekr?

Zeekr is fully owned by its parent company Geely Automobile Holdings. Geely is a privately held company headquartered in Zhejian, China, founded in 1986.