Rivian Raises Another $2.65b In Round Led By T. Rowe Price

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Electric vehicle start-up Rivian has raised another $2.65 billion in a fundraising round led by T. Rowe Price. Fidelity Management and Research Company, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, D1 Capital Partners and Coatue also participated, as did “several other existing and new investors.”

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Rivian continues fundraising efforts

The EV start-up has raised some $8 billion over the last couple of years. Six months ago, Rivian raised $2.5 billion, and a year ago, it raised $1.3 billion. The Verge notes that it's difficult to know how much Rivian has in the bank because it has spent a lot of money building a massive team and developing at least three vehicles.

After this latest funding round, Rivian's war chest could approach that of China's Nio, which has also held several capital raises in recent years. Rivian needs the cash to launch its first three vehicles, the R1T pickup truck, the R1S SUV and the electric delivery vans it is working on with Amazon. In September 2019, Rivian said customers had already ordered 100,000 delivery vans and that deliveries would start in 2021.

"This is a critical year for us as we are launching the R1T, the R1S and the Amazon commercial delivery vehicles," Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said in a statement. "The support and confidence of our investors enables us to remain focused on these launches while simultaneously scaling our business for our next stage of growth."

Key investors

T. Rowe Price has been a major player in Rivian's fundraising rounds for years, as has Amazon. T. Rowe Price also led the $2.5 billion fundraising round in July 2020 and the $1.3 billion fundraising round in December 2019. Ford has also invested in the EV start-up, pouring $500 million into it in 2019 amid plans to collaborate on a future program. Other major backers include BlackRock and Soros Fund Management.

The Verge pointed out that what's especially notable about Rivian's fundraising is that it has raised all the money while staying private. Special purpose acquisition companies, better known as SPACs, took off in 2020, and this year the market is still hot. Many EV start-ups have gone public by merging with SPACs as investors excitedly hope to invest in the next Tesla.