The start-up Verkor, specializing in electric batteries, announced on Friday that it has secured a €1.3 billion loan, just months after raising over €2 billion, to fund its “gigafactory” in Dunkirk.
In a statement, the company confirmed it has “secured over €1.3 billion in green financing with support from 16 commercial banks and 3 public banks.”
The executives signed the financing agreement on Friday at Matignon, with Industry Minister Roland Lescure in attendance.
”Verkor will directly allocate these funds to construct its first gigafactory in Dunkirk, which will have an initial production capacity of 16 GWh/year. With this new transaction, the total amount of funding secured by Verkor for its first gigafactory and the Verkor Innovation Centre exceeds €3 billion,” the statement said.
“This bank financing allows us to complete the construction of our gigafactory, which will produce its first low-carbon battery cells in 2025,” and “enables us to accelerate our growth to become a leader in battery manufacturing at the European level,” said Benoit Lemaignan, co-founder and president of the company.
Last September, Verkor, founded in 2020, announced that it had raised “over €2 billion” to finance the establishment of its battery gigafactory.
“Located in Dunkirk, the gigafactory will be operational in 2025 and will create approximately 1,200 direct jobs and 3,000 indirect jobs over the next two years. This facility positions Verkor as a major partner for mobility and stationary storage players,” the statement added.
Verkor is seen as a symbol of reindustrialization. Its Dunkirk factory aims to support the French automotive industry in achieving the goal of producing two million electric cars in France by 2030, following years of offshoring.