Rivian closes $2.5B investment round
11 July 2020
Rivian has closed an investment round of $2.5 billion. The financing was led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. Rivian has developed and vertically integrated a connected electric platform that can be flexibly applied to a range of applications including the company’s adventure products as well as B2B products such as the Amazon last-mile delivery vans.
The Rivian R1T pickup. Photo credit: Jeff Johnson.
Rivian has developed and vertically integrated a connected electric platform that can be flexibly applied to a range of applications including the company's adventure products as well as B2B products such as the Amazon last mile delivery vans.
Participants in this investment round include Soros Fund Management LLC, Coatue, Fidelity Management and Research Company, and Baron Capital Group. Existing shareholders Amazon and funds managed by BlackRock also participated.
We are focused on the launch of our R1T, R1S and Amazon delivery vehicles. With all three launches occurring in 2021, our teams are working hard to ensure our vehicles, supply chain and production systems are ready for a robust production ramp up. We are grateful for the strong investor support that helps enable us to focus on execution of our products.
—Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe
No new board seats have been added, and additional details about this investment are not being disclosed at this time. The investment announcement is Rivian's first in 2020. In 2019:
In February, Rivian announced a $700 million funding round led by Amazon.
In April, Rivian announced that Ford Motor Company invested $500 million and that the companies would collaborate on a future program.
In September, Cox Automotive announced its $350 million investment in Rivian, complemented by plans to collaborate on logistics and service.
In late September, Rivian announced it was developing an electric delivery van for Amazon utilizing Rivian's skateboard platform and that 100,000 of these vans had been ordered with deliveries starting in 2021.
In December, Rivian closed an investment round of $1.3 billion. The financing was led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. with additional participation from Amazon, Ford Motor Company and funds managed by BlackRock.
Rivian’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 in 2021.
So with Tesla cyber truck we are sure to have to electric pickup on the market next year. The big 3 should worry .
Posted by: Treehugger | 11 July 2020 at 07:48 AM
No, Ford and GM will have one in a while.
Posted by: SJC_1 | 11 July 2020 at 09:18 AM
SJC , my impression is that the big 3 are following the trend very very softly which might end up as a pigeon hole at some point. None of them are pro-active in the electric revolution
Posted by: Treehugger | 11 July 2020 at 09:51 AM
I don’t believe many traditional truck owners will defect to the Cybertruck, but it will open a new segment, similar to the El Camino and Ranchero in the late 60s and 70s.
The Rivian will pick off guys who were spending $80k on a truck that gives them status and cuts a particular profile.
GM and Ford will go slow and be timid with innovation because they don’t want to upset the status quo, impair their cash cows.
Like most disruption, they’re stuck in a trap, and by the time they realize how badly they are being disrupted, it will be too late, they won’t have time to gat up with their competitors growth curve.
Just a few years ago, I talked to big 3 auto execs who were still dismissing - contemptuously - Tesla. Their strategy was to wait for Tesla to fail, they were certain of it. Incredible.
Tesla and Rivian have shown that the main barrier to entry - massive capitalization - can be overcome.
Posted by: electric-car-insider.com | 11 July 2020 at 10:14 AM
What is the big deal with Rivian ?
Have they some special tech or are people just hoping to get the next Tesla?
Posted by: mahonj | 11 July 2020 at 02:18 PM
It might be worth reading "The Innovator's dilemma" by Clayton Christensen.
I think we are writing a new chapter as we speak.
Posted by: mahonj | 11 July 2020 at 02:45 PM
Ford will attempt to take this market, lock, stock and barrel. If they succeed, their $500m investment will have paid off.
Posted by: Joseph Wilder | 11 July 2020 at 06:45 PM
People buy F150 trucks, they will buy an EV150 as well.
Posted by: SJC_1 | 13 July 2020 at 08:10 AM