Polestar announced on Monday a $300 million equity investment from a group of purchasers including Crédit Agricole CIB, Vida Finance, Innovator Limited, and Proximastar Holdings, bringing total new equity raised since December to $1 billion across three rounds.
The transaction follows the same structure as the two previous rounds.
Each purchaser has entered a put option agreement with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Geely Sweden Holdings, giving them an exit path within three years with certain returns.
The price per Class A ADS was set at $19.34, identical to the December and February rounds.
CEO Michael Lohscheller said the raises have “meaningfully” strengthened Polestar‘s balance sheet and broadened its shareholder base.
“Coming off a record year of retail sales and with four new models planned in the next three years, we are fully focused on delivering on our ambitions,” Lohscheller said.
Three Rounds, One Structure
The $1 billion in new equity was all anchored by Geely‘s willingness to backstop investors through put options — effectively guaranteeing them a floor return.
The first round closed on December 19, when BBVA and Natixis each invested $150 million.
Geely Sweden simultaneously agreed to convert approximately $300 million of outstanding debt owed by Polestar into equity, reducing the company’s liabilities.
Three days earlier, Polestar had secured a separate $600 million subordinated term loan from a Geely subsidiary, of which $300 million was committed and immediately available.
The remaining $300 million requires lender consent.
The second round, announced on February 3, brought in $400 million from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), at $200 million each.
Monday’s $300 million third round completes the targeted $1 billion.
All three rounds share a common feature: the financial institutions investing in Polestar are not taking unhedged equity risk. The put options with Geely Sweden mean the investors can exit within three years with guaranteed returns.
The arrangement effectively transfers the downside risk to Geely, which remains the EV maker’s largest shareholder and backer.
The Cash Crisis Behind the Capital
The fundraising sprint follows a period of financial stress, according to the latest report.
The company held $719 million in cash at the end of that period, down from $739 million at the close of 2024, while its net loss for the first half reached $1.19 billion — more than double the $544 million lost a year earlier.
By the end of the third quarter, the cash position had climbed to roughly $995 million, according to the company’s Q3 earnings call in November.
But Polestar was simultaneously burning through approximately $136 million per month, CFO Jean-François Mady told analysts, a rate the company said would increase due to legacy capital expenditure commitments.
Full-year 2025 financial results have not yet been published.
Polestar has said they will be released in conjunction with the annual 20-F filing, expected in April.
Sales Up, Losses Deeper
The funding wave arrived alongside the strongest retail year in Polestar‘s history.
The company sold an estimated 60,119 vehicles in 2025, a 34% increase over 2024’s 44,851 units.
Revenue for the first nine months reached $2.17 billion, up 49% year over year.
But the growth has come at steep cost. The net loss for the first nine months of 2025 widened 80% year over year to $1.56 billion, primarily due to a $739 million impairment charge on the Polestar 2 platform.
Adjusted gross margin for the period was negative 1.8%. The adjusted EBITDA loss through September was $561 million.
The Strategic Bet
At its mid-February strategy update, Lohscheller announced what he called the largest model offensive in Polestar‘s history: four new vehicles by 2028 (including two facelifts).
The Polestar 5 grand tourer is expected to begin deliveries in the summer of 2026.
A new variant of the Polestar 4 is planned for Q4 2026.
The next-generation Polestar 2 sedan arrives in early 2027, and the Polestar 7, a compact SUV to be manufactured at Volvo’s plant in Košice, Slovakia, is targeted for 2028.
The company quietly halved its 2026 sales growth target at the same event, guiding for “low double-digit volume growth” rather than the 30–35% compound annual rate it had pledged a year earlier.
At the midpoint, that implies roughly 66,000 to 69,000 deliveries this year.
