The groundwork for the company was laid in 2007 as a hobby garage activity of Mate Rimac. 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. A significant part of the early financing came from angel investors and the sale of proprietary patents.
Rimac Automobili was founded in 2009 in Sveta Nedelja, near Zagreb, Croatia, where suitable facilities were rented. When he was 19 years old, Mate Rimac began converting an E30-M3 which served as his first test mule: "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. 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". 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." In 2020, Rimac recommended Infinum, the largest Balkan software and design company, to Porsche that led to creation of the a joint venture Porsche Digital Croatia with an investment of €10 million.
In July 2021, VW Group's Porsche and Rimac announced that they have agreed to create a joint venture that will incorporate Volkswagen's high-performance Bugatti brand as well as Rimac Automobili. The new venture will be called Bugatti Rimac. Parent company Rimac Group will have a 55% stake in the joint venture, while Porsche will hold a 45% stake in the company. in June of that year, Porsche stated it was one of the participants in a new €500 million round of fundraising.
Rimac Technology is 100% owned by the Rimac Group. Rimac Technology develops vehicle systems and technologies for many global OEMs.
