Rivian, the US-headquartered electric truck developer that has raised over $10bn from investors including several corporates, has confidentially filed for an initial public offering, it has announced.
Founded in 2009 before emerging from stealth in 2018, Rivian has developed a plug-in electric pick-up truck called the R1T and a sports utility vehicle dubbed the R1S, both of which will soon begin to be delivered to customers.
The company secured $2.5bn last month in a round co-led by e-commerce group Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, carmaker Ford Motor Company, D1 Capital Partners and funds and accounts advised by T Rowe Price that included investment and financial services group Fidelity, Third Point, Dragoneer Investment Group and Coatue Management.
Rivian’s earliest recorded corporate investment came in 2017 when diversified conglomerate Sumitomo provided an undisclosed amount, while fellow conglomerate Abdul Latif Jameel was also an early backer.
Amazon led a $700m round for Rivian in February 2019 that also featured undisclosed existing investors. The round boosted its overall funding to $1.5bn, though it is unclear whether that figure included $200m in debt financing supplied by Standard Chartered in 2018.
Ford agreed to invest $500m in the company two months later before Cox Automotive, part of media and automotive group Cox Enterprises, paid $350m for a 10% stake in September 2019.
Rivian closed a $1.3bn round in December that year that was led by funds and accounts advised by T Rowe Price and backed by Ford, Amazon and funds managed by BlackRock. All bar Ford joined Fidelity, Soros Fund Management, Coatue, Baron Capital Group to invest a further $2.5bn in July 2020.
The company added $2.65bn in a January 2021 round led by funds and accounts advised by T Rowe Price and backed by Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, Fidelity, Coatue, D1 Capital Partners and unnamed new and existing investors, reportedly valuing it at $27.6bn.
Photo courtesy of Rivian.
