Key Investors Include Amazon, T. Rowe Price, and Ford
Rivian, a startup based in Plymouth, has successfully concluded its fourth round of fundraising for its electric vehicle initiative. The company has emerged as one of the best-funded players entering the competitive electric vehicle market. Currently, Tesla holds the top position in this sector and is widely regarded as the industry leader.
While electric vehicles represent a small fraction of the global automotive market, many major car manufacturers are actively exploring and developing new electric models. The industry as a whole is investing significantly in the electric vehicle space. Rivian intends to utilize the recent influx of investments to develop a fully electric pickup truck named the R1T, with plans to introduce an R1T SUV by the end of 2020.
Several prominent corporations are recognizing the potential of the electric vehicle market and are making strategic moves in this direction. Amazon played a pivotal role by contributing to Rivian’s successful $700 million funding round in February. Amazon has also placed orders for more than 100,000 electric vehicles from Rivian for future delivery, although the company has refrained from commenting further on this development. Amazon is poised to start manufacturing its first electric vehicles in 2021.
Prior to this latest funding round, Rivian had already raised over $2.2 billion. While the company’s valuation now stands at over $5 billion, the exact valuation figure has not been disclosed yet.