In 13 years, Mate Rimac, 34, has gone from a garage tinkerer to running one of the world's most respected automobile engineering firms and hypercar manufacturers.

More than that, not only does Rimac's company own the Bugatti marque, it is also working with Porsche, Aston Martin, Koenigsegg and Hyundai on high-performance sports car projects. Another branch of the company, Rimac Technology, is gearing up to be a major supplier of electric vehicle drivetrain components, batteries, power electronics, gearboxes and motors, which are already slated for use by Porsche and Aston Martin, among others.

Rimac Group continued to attract investors, announcing in spring it raised another €500 million ($536.6 million) to help support its manufacturing operations.

In summer, it began production of its swoopy 1,914-hp Nevera hypercar, which was developed in-house by the company's growing engineering corps. According to Rimac, it will go from 0 to 60 mph in 1.85 seconds and reach top speeds of 258 mph. It plans to sell 150 copies of Nevera, built near Zagreb, Croatia, for $2.4 million each.