A latest fund raising round led by investors Amazon.com Inc, Ford Motor Co and T. Rowe Price helped electric car startup Rivian to raise $2.5 billion, the company said on Friday.
An announcement of Rivian exploring options of setting up a second vehicle assembly plant in the United States was made by the company on the same day as it reported the closure of the funding round. There were previous reports of the company planning to build the second plant called "Project Tera" which would include facilities for the production of battery cells.
“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 Chief Executive R.J. Scaringe said in a statement.
“This infusion of funds ... allows Rivian to scale new vehicle programs, expand our domestic facility footprint, and fuel international product rollout,” he added.
Rivian has raised about $10.5 billion to date, said the company that currently runs a factory in Normal, Illinois. According to ot to previous reports, the company is also looking at a possible public listing later this year and is targeting to get a valuation of much more than $50 billion.
With large car markets such as China and the European Union passing stricter regulations to lower carbon emissions from vehicles, auto companies around the world are racing to develop technologies and capacity to make electric vehicles. Rivian wants to become a market competitor with it rolling out its R1T pickup and R1S SUV, in addition to a delivery van for Amazon.
The launch of its vehicles has been delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Scaringe said in a letter to customers last week. The company had previously set a target of July for delivery of the first R1T which has now been pushed back to September while it has been forced to delay the launch of its R1S to autumn this year.
Reports in November last year had quoted Scaringe raying that Rivian targeted to follow up the initial three vehicles with a range of smaller models designed specifically for the Chinese and the European market and could eventually also build up manufacturing facilities in these markets.
The latest funding round of the company was also led by D1 Capital Partners in addition to Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund, Ford and funds managed by T. Rowe Price, the company said. The funding round was also participated by Third Point, Fidelity Management and Research Co, Dragoneer Investment Group and Coatue, Rivian said.
(Source:www.autonews.com)
An announcement of Rivian exploring options of setting up a second vehicle assembly plant in the United States was made by the company on the same day as it reported the closure of the funding round. There were previous reports of the company planning to build the second plant called "Project Tera" which would include facilities for the production of battery cells.
“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 Chief Executive R.J. Scaringe said in a statement.
“This infusion of funds ... allows Rivian to scale new vehicle programs, expand our domestic facility footprint, and fuel international product rollout,” he added.
Rivian has raised about $10.5 billion to date, said the company that currently runs a factory in Normal, Illinois. According to ot to previous reports, the company is also looking at a possible public listing later this year and is targeting to get a valuation of much more than $50 billion.
With large car markets such as China and the European Union passing stricter regulations to lower carbon emissions from vehicles, auto companies around the world are racing to develop technologies and capacity to make electric vehicles. Rivian wants to become a market competitor with it rolling out its R1T pickup and R1S SUV, in addition to a delivery van for Amazon.
The launch of its vehicles has been delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Scaringe said in a letter to customers last week. The company had previously set a target of July for delivery of the first R1T which has now been pushed back to September while it has been forced to delay the launch of its R1S to autumn this year.
Reports in November last year had quoted Scaringe raying that Rivian targeted to follow up the initial three vehicles with a range of smaller models designed specifically for the Chinese and the European market and could eventually also build up manufacturing facilities in these markets.
The latest funding round of the company was also led by D1 Capital Partners in addition to Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund, Ford and funds managed by T. Rowe Price, the company said. The funding round was also participated by Third Point, Fidelity Management and Research Co, Dragoneer Investment Group and Coatue, Rivian said.
(Source:www.autonews.com)
