EV tech startup Rivian raises $2.5 billion in funding led by Amazon, Ford to bring electric pickup trucks and delivery vans to market
Nickie Louise
Posted On July 26, 2021
Electric truck startup Rivian is looking to ride the electric car waves with the announcement of the new funding announcement. We first wrote about Rivian in 2018 after the Plymouth, Michigan-based startup emerged from stealth mode with $500,000 million in funding.
Rivian announced Friday that it closed a $2.5 billion funding round led by existing investors Amazon, Ford Motor, and T. Rowe Price, bringing the total funding raised by the company to about $10.5 billion. Rivian said the new capital infusion will go toward expanding new vehicle programs, the company’s domestic facility footprint and international product rollout.
The announcement came just a year after the company raised $2.5 billion from existing investors. In January, Rivian closed a $2.65 billion investment round and another $2.5 billion round last July. It raised $1.3 billion in December 2019 and at least $1.5 billion before that.
Founded in 2009 by Robert J. Scaringe, Rivian is the world’s first electric adventure vehicle. The company is developing vehicles, technology, and services that inspire people to get out and explore the world. Rivian is an automotive technology company that develops products and services to advance the shift to sustainable mobility.
“As we near the start of vehicle production, it’s vital that we keep looking forward and pushing through to Rivian’s next phase of growth,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Amazon said back in September 2019 that it planned to purchase 100,000 electric vehicles from the start-up as part of its push to make its fleet run entirely on renewable energy.
Rivian originally planned to launch its R1T pickup truck and R1S sport utility in the U.S. in 2020 but was later delayed. Last week, Rivian notified buyers it is delaying deliveries of the R1T pickup until September and the R1S SUV until later in the fall. Now the company plans to test its electric delivery vans in 16 cities by the end of 2021.
With a team of more than 750 people, Rivian has development centers in Plymouth, Mich.; San Jose, Calif.; Irvine, Calif; and Surrey, England; along with a 2.6-million-square-foot manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois.
