US-based electric truck developer Rivian has completed a $1.3bn financing round that included automotive manufacturer Ford Motor Company and e-commerce, cloud computing and home device group Amazon.
Funds and accounts advised by asset management firm T.Rowe Price led the round, which also featured funds managed by BlackRock.
Founded in 2009, Rivian is developing an all-electric sports utility vehicle (SUV) and pick-up truck, each of which are expected to come to market in late 2020. It will produce the vehicles at a custom manufacturing plant in the state of Illinois.
Amazon is collaborating with the company on the development of a plug-in electric delivery van that will utilise the latter’s technology, through a deal struck in September this year. It has placed an order for 100,000 such vans.
The round brought Rivian’s overall funding to $3.65bn, $2.85bn of which was raised this year. Cox Automotive, part of media, automotive and telecommunications group Cox Enterprises, paid $350m for a 10% stake in the company in September.
Ford invested $500m in Rivian in April, two months after Amazon led a $700m round that included unnamed existing backers. Its earlier investors include diversified conglomerate Sumitomo, car distributor Abdul Latif Jameel and Standard Chartered Bank, which supplied $200m in debt financing.
RJ Scaringe, founder and chief executive of Rivian, said: “This investment demonstrates confidence in our team, products, technology and strategy – we are extremely excited to have the support from such strong shareholders.”
Photo courtesy of Rivian.
