Electric SUV maker Rivian receives fresh investment of $1.3 billion

Rivian, the US-based electric SUV and truck maker, has closed an investment round of $1.3 billion (Rs 9,255 crore). The financing was led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates. The round saw participation from Amazon, Ford Motor Company and BlackRock.

Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said, “This investment demonstrates confidence in our team, products, technology and strategy – we are extremely excited to have the support from such strong shareholders.”

The investment announcement is Rivian’s fourth of 2019. In February, Rivian announced a $700 million (Rs 4,983 crore) funding round led by Amazon. In April, Rivian announced that Ford Motor Company invested $500 million (Rs 3,559 crore) and that the companies would collaborate on a vehicle project utilising Rivian’s skateboard platform. In September, Cox Automotive announced its $350 million (Rs 2,491 crore) investment in Rivian, complemented by plans to collaborate on logistics and service. In addition to these investments, in late September, Rivian announced it was collaborating with Amazon on the development of an electric delivery van utilizing Rivian’s platform technology and that 100,000 of these vans had been ordered with deliveries starting in 2021.

The company’s launch products, the R1T and R1S, claims to deliver up to 400+ miles of range. The vehicles use the company’s flexible skateboard platform and will be produced at Rivian’s manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois, with customer deliveries expected to begin at the end of 2020. Rivian has development centres in Plymouth, Michigan; San Jose, California; Irvine, California; Vancouver, Canada, and Surrey, England; along with a 2.6-million-square-foot manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois.