Amazon-backed Rivian in $ 2.65 billion extra to fund an electric vehicle button

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Rivian, a well-funded electric vehicle starter with support from Amazon

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, said it raised another $ 2.65 billion in a round led by investment giant T. Rowe Price

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 as the company prepares to begin construction of battery-powered engines, SUVs and delivery vans.

The additional investment by T. Rowe Price, which also participated in a $ 2.5 billion round of 2020, strengthens Rivian’s funding attraction to at least $ 8 billion, more than the previous U.S. car startup. Delivery of its first electric module is set to begin in mid-2021, built at a self-developed facility in Normal, Illinois.

“This is a critical year for us as we launch the R1T, R1S and Amazon commercial delivery vehicles,” said founder and CEO RJ Scaringe. “The support and confidence of our investors allows us to stay focused on these events while scaling our business to the next level of growth. ”

The company competes face-to-face with Tesla

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 in the nascent electric build space, with the innovative but more traditional R1T going up against Cybertruck with the hard edge of Elon Musk, which looks more polar sporty. And where Rivian branding combines its models with healthy outdoor activity at mountains, beaches and winter scenery, Cybertruck is more of a futuristic weapon designed for Terminator-like, post-apocalyptic situations. Tesla fans, however, like it: Musk has said he has hundreds of thousands of orders and plans to build the vehicle at Tesla ‘s new base in Austin, Texas.

Along with T. Rowe Price, Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, Fidelity Coatue and D1 Capital Partners also joined the latest round.

Along with the build of consumers and SUVs, Rivian’s revenue stream should benefit in the early years from Amazon’s order for 100,000 electric delivery vans.

“We’ve been looking forward to the future of 2021, and with it, the excitement of Rivian starting to deliver its revolutionary products to customers,” said Joe Fath, T. Rowe Price’s package manager. .

Additional Rivian supporters include Ford, Cox Automotive and BlackRock

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.

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