Rivian has already been impressing us with its capacity raise money, and the electric pickup truck startup is not slowing down, as it has a new $2.6 billion investment.
Rivian is a money-raising machine
Since coming onto the scene in a big way in late 2018 with the unveiling of its R1T and R1S electric trucks, Rivian has managed to raise an impressive amount of money from big investors.
In February 2019, Rivian received a $700 million round of funding led by Amazon, and Ford invested $500 million in the electric pickup startup just two months later.
The startup also added Cox Automotive as an investor with a $350 million round in September. It topped off its 2019 with a massive $1.3 billion round of funding in December.
In 2020, the company went back to the bank and managed to raise another $2.5 billion from existing investors and also T. Rowe Price Associates, an important investor in Tesla.
That’s impressive enough, but now Rivian is going back to the well already in 2021.
Rivian raises $2.65 billion
We recently reported on rumors that Rivian was again trying to raise a large amount of money, and today, the automaker has confirmed that it closed a $2.65 billion round:
Rivian has closed an investment round of $2.65 billion. The financing was led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. This round also included Fidelity Management and Research Company, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Coatue and D1 Capital Partners as well as several other existing and new investors.
Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe commented on the announcement:
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.
Rivian is finalizing preparation for the start of production of the R1T electric pickup truck and R1S electric SUV this summer.
The money is going to finance the company’s growth as they build large production capacity for those vehicles and the deal to supply Amazon with 100,000 electric delivery vans.
Prior to the closing of the financing round, Rivian was rumored to be valued at $25 billion.
Electrek’s Take
Like I said when we reported on the rumor earlier this month, I think Rivian could be worth that, considering their backlog of orders and the increased confidence in their ability to reach volume production.
But their ability to raise money is still impressive.
We are almost talking Tesla-level capital raises but on the private market. That’s now around $8 billion raised over two years.
I wouldn’t be shocked if we see a SPAC deal or an actual IPO from Rivian later this year.
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Author: Fred Lambert
Source: Electrek
