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Amazon-backed electric vehicle startup Rivian has raised an additional $ 2.65 billion, strengthening its position as one of the world’s best-funded EV startups.
The investment round was led by T. Rowe Price and included Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Fidelity Management and Research Company, investment firms Coatue and D1 Capital Partners, as well as “several other existing and new investors. “, According to the startup.
The new money comes barely six months after Rivian raised $ 2.5 billion, and about a year after raising $ 1.3 billion. He has now raised over $ 8 billion to date.
It’s hard to say exactly how much Rivian has in the bank, given that he’s already spent a lot to hire a massive team while developing at least three vehicles that we know of. But after this new round of funding, the EV startup’s war chest likely rivals China’s Nio, which also has billions of dollars in the bank following several recent increases. (A direct comparison here is difficult, however, since some Chinese startups like Nio have received government support.)
This money will be crucial as Rivian prepares to release its first two electric vehicles later this year, the R1T pickup truck and the R1S SUV. Rivian is also working with Amazon on the development and deployment of an electric delivery van, which has recently been spotted in the wild.
What’s remarkable about Rivian’s ability to continue raising such massive amounts of money is that the startup does so while keeping the business private. There has been an incredible wave of new funding in the electric vehicle space over the past year, largely thanks to Tesla. But much of it stems from what are known as SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition) mergers, where publicly traded but mostly dormant investment funds have taken over companies like Canoo and Fisker.
Rivian is also backed by BlackRock, Soros Fund Management LLC, and Ford, although the Detroit automaker has not been named in the previous two funding rounds. Rivian is working on an electric vehicle with Ford’s luxury brand Lincoln, although an SUV collaboration was already scrapped last year.
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