Rivian scores in new financing round

Electric car startup Rivian is reportedly close to closing a multi-billion dollar financing round. According to a media report, the new investments are expected to bring Rivian a valuation of 25 billion US dollars (around 20 billion euros).

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As the financial service Bloomberg writes with reference to insider circles, several existing Rivian investors are also to participate in the new financing round. Although the financing has not yet been completed and details could still change, there seems to be no doubt about Rivian receiving further billion-euro investments.

Among the best-known investors in the company founded in 2009 are Amazon and Ford. But financial investors T. Rowe Price Group, Blackrock, Soros Fund Management, Fidelity Investments and Baron Capital Group also have stakes in Rivian.

A Rivian spokesperson indicated the company was not ready to make an official announcement but that they were talking to investors on a regular basis. “We are focused on delivering the R1T, R1S, and Amazon delivery vehicles in 2021,” the spokesperson said.

Rivian is already among the best-funded electric car startups. After its founding, RJ Scaringe and a small team worked in secret for a long time on a skateboarding platform for electric cars. The company made its first major appearance in 2017 when they bought a former Mitsubishi plant in the US state of Illinois. In late 2018, Rivian unveiled the R1T electric pickup and R1S electric SUV on this platform. By the end of 2020, the “launch editions” of both models sold out in a matter of days. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in June 2021, which would still make Rivian one of the first with an electric vehicle model in the important US market for large pickups, despite the Corona-related postponement.

In 2019, there were initial rumours that General Motors might join Rivian. Later in the year, however, a GM investment was off the table, with Ford joining the startup instead. However, the initially announced technical cooperation with Ford’s Lincoln brand was later put on hold. Over the years 2019 and 2020, the above-mentioned financial investors, among others, came on board in several financing rounds.

The company received one of its largest orders from investor Amazon in September 2019: The e-commerce giant ordered 100,000 electric delivery trucks for its own fleet. The finished model was unveiled in October 2020, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2022 at the latest and be completed by 2030.

Update 20 January 2021: Rumours of a new billion-dollar financing round for electric car startup Rivian have been confirmed: Rivian has now officially announced that it has closed a $2.65 billion funding round with several existing and new investors. In addition to Fidelity, participants in the new round included T. Rowe Prive and Coatue, the Amazon Climate Pledge Fund.

“This is a critical year for us as we are launching the R1T, the R1S and the Amazon commercial delivery vehicles. The support and confidence of our investors enables us to remain focused on these launches while simultaneously scaling our business for our next stage of growth,” said Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe.

bloomberg.com, update: rivian.com