How Mate Rimac went from his dad's garage to taking over Bugatti

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In 2010, Rimac Automobili had only one employee, besides the founder himself. Today, the company is, well, a little bigger — that number has grown to over 1,000, and the firm’s valuation to an estimated US$929 million.

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It has been a wild ride for Rimac for sure, a journey that’s seen partnerships and collaborations with some major players in the automobile industry, including Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, and, most recently, Bugatti.

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How Mate Rimac went from his dad's garage to taking over Bugatti Back to video

And it all comes down to the vision of one man, 33-year-old Mate Rimac, who was bold enough to step out into the unknown in pursuit of his dreams. He was born in Livno, Bosnia-Herzegovina, in 1988 and lived there until the age of three, when he moved with his family to Germany. In 2000, his family relocated to Croatia, a place Mate has called home ever since.

As a young boy, he had always displayed a keen interest in cars and technology, though he was not very good at school, where he was bullied for his heavily accented Croatian tongue. More than anything, Mate Rimac loved to work on cars and electronic gadgets in his father’s garage. He already had several international trophies under his belt by the time he was 18, from participating in various competitions for technology and innovation.

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One of his first invention patents was a digital glove that could replace a mouse and keyboard. This was long before the arrival of touch screens, a testament to Mate Rimac’s far-reaching vision and insight.

In 2006, his passion for racing drove him to acquire an E30 BMW 323i, which he brought to a few local meets before the engine blew. Instead of condemning the car to the scrapyard, he swapped out the broken internal-combustion engine with a 600-hp electric motor, cannibalized parts from an old forklift truck, and transformed the BMW into what Rimac called the e-M3, or, less clinically and more affectionately, the ‘Green Monster.’

It took a while for the reborn BMW to get going, but once it did, there was no stopping the EV. Mate won his first race with the car in 2010, and the following year, the car would go on to set a series of speed records recognized by the Guinness Book.

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Rimac Automobili was founded in 2009, about the same time Mate was still racing the Rimac e-M3. It was the same car that would go on to serve as a test-bed for different EV technologies as the company tinkered with its first supercar. At the time, it was just Mate working with his friend (and current Rimac design head) Adriano Mudri. The early days of the company were by no means easy, but they caught a lucky break with some funding channeled from the U.A.E. royal family, and were able to showcase their first ever supercar, the Rimac Concept One, at the 2011 Frankfurt auto show. Production was capped at eight units, one of which was famously destroyed in an accident by motoring TV presenter Richard Hammond.

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The momentum did not slow down at the company, though, and work continued on a new hypercar, the C_Two. It was recently revealed in final production form as the Rimac Nevera, a 1,914-hp hyper-EV that now holds the record for the quickest production car over the quarter-mile .

Today, Rimac Automobili is best known for its exclusive hypercars, but according to Mate, the cars form only a part of the company’s business model. They operate under a structure that actually places more emphasis on being a technology supplier to other automobile companies, helping them build their own high-performance electric vehicles. It was a model borne out of necessity. In the early days of Rimac, people were not keen on investing in a boutique hypercar company, and Mate quickly realised the only way for the company to survive financially was to create its own funding stream by supplying technology and expertise to other manufacturers.

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The strategy has worked well for Rimac Automobili so far, and has helped the company attract some heavy hitters in the automobile industry. In 2018, Porsche came knocking with an offer to take up a 10-per-cent stake in the company. That number has since increased to about 24 per cent. Hyundai soon followed, and together with its sister company, Kia, invested just over US$93 million for an undisclosed share in the firm and a technical partnership centered on the development of electric cars .

It’s not just the mainstream manufacturers, either — more obscure marques have also approached Rimac, drawn in by the success the company has had with its high-performance electric powertrains. Pininfarina, the Italian car company, built its Battista hyper-EV around a powertrain supplied by Rimac . Then there’s Bugatti, which is now set to become part of a new venture between Rimac and Porsche , with Rimac holding a controlling 55-per-cent stake.

It’s a meteoric rise for the young lad who started out by working on cars in his father’s garage, and judging by current trends in the automotive industry, it is only going to get better for the Croatian and his automobile company. Concerted efforts by various governments, especially in the developed world, to phase out conventional internal-combustion vehicles present a prime opportunity for Rimac Automobili, and you can be sure it will be ready to pounce whenever the moment arises.