'Also', the electric vehicle (EV) start-up spun out of Rivian, has closed a $150m series D financing round, just months after a $200m fund raise.
Prysm Capital led the round, with participation from Eclipse, Greenoaks and MVP Ventures.
The company develops vertically integrated small EVs, combining proprietary hardware, software and manufacturing to support multiple products built on a shared platform.
The new capital will be used to support development of Also's autonomous vehicle platform, including multiple autonomous form factors for moving goods and passengers across urban environments.
More on autonomous tech
These will build on the EV architecture Also has already developed for its consumer electric bike, the TM-B, and its commercial electric delivery quad, the TM-Q.
Also co-founder and president Chris Yu said: “Whether a vehicle is driven or autonomous, the need to solve for congestion and cost per trip does not change. This is exactly why we started Also – to deliver well designed, intelligent small vehicles better suited for today’s urban and suburban centres.
Also's commercial partners include Amazon and DoorDash.
The company's TM-B Launch Edition electric bike has begun shipping to customers in the US, and pre-order and configuration access has opened for the TM-B performance and standard models, with initial deliveries expected later this year.
The series D follows a $200m series C round closed earlier this year in April, led by Greenoaks with participation from Prysm Capital and a strategic investment from DoorDash.
Alongside that round, Also and DoorDash entered a multi-year commercial agreement to jointly develop and deploy autonomous delivery vehicles at scale.
Rivian has also been raising capital. In March this year, Uber agreed to invest up to $1.25bn in Rivian, including an initial $300m, with the total potentially increasing by 2031 based on milestones linked to its self-driving technology.
The agreement could also involve Uber purchasing up to 50,000 autonomous vehicles.
In June, Rivian cut about 2% of its employees to bring costs under control as it works towards profitability.
The cuts impacted Rivian's service and customer organisation, including sales and marketing teams.
