EV start-up Rivian closed an investment round of USD1.3bn at the end of 2019 and said the financing was led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.
Amazon, Ford Motor Company and funds managed by BlackRock also participated in the round.
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“This investment demonstrates confidence in our team, products, technology and strategy – we are extremely excited to have the support from such strong shareholders,” said Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe.
The investment announcement was Rivian’s fourth in 2019. In February, Rivian announced a USD700m funding round led by Amazon. In April, Rivian announced that Ford Motor Company invested USD500m and that the companies would collaborate on a vehicle project utilizing Rivian’s skateboard platform. In September, Cox Automotive announced its USD350m investment in Rivian, complemented by plans to collaborate on logistics and service.
In addition to these investments, in late September, Rivian announced it was collaborating with Amazon on the development of an electric delivery van utilising Rivian’s platform technology and that 100,000 of these vans had been ordered with deliveries starting in 2021.
Rivian says it has developed its vehicles with adventurers at the core of every design and engineering decision. The company’s launch products, the R1T and R1S, deliver up to 400+ miles of range and provide a combination of performance, off-road capability and utility. These vehicles use the company’s flexible ‘skateboard’ platform and will be produced at Rivian’s manufacturing plant in Normal, Ill., with customer deliveries expected to begin at the end of 2020.
Rivian has development centers in Plymouth, Mich.; San Jose, Calif.; Irvine, Calif; Vancouver, Canada, and Surrey, England; along with a 2.6-million-square-foot manufacturing plant in Normal, Ill. Rivian says it will launch its products in the US in late 2020, with introduction to other global geographies starting in 2021. Rivian is now accepting preorders on its R1T and R1S.
