Watch out Elon: "Electric truck start-up Rivian announces $700 million investment round led by Amazon" (TSLA)
From CNBC:
- Amazon led a $700 million round of funding in Rivian, a Michigan-based electric vehicle startup.
- Rivian plans to launch an electric pickup and electric SUV in the U.S. in 2020.
Electric truck start-up and potential Tesla rival Rivian announced a $700 million investment round led by Amazon on Friday.
The announcement comes less than three
months after Rivian revealed its first two products, an all-electric
pickup and SUV that, some analysts have said, could pose a direct
challenge to both established truck manufacturers like General Motors and Ford, as well as upstart Tesla which is developing its own battery-electric pickup.
The Friday morning
announcement comes just days after reports began circulating that GM
would join Amazon in the new round of financing. But a well-placed
source involved in the negotiations told CNBC that "you don't find all
the presents under the Christmas tree," suggesting that another
development is in the works, one that could come at or before the New
York Auto Show in April where Rivian is scheduled to hold a news
conference.
"This investment is an important milestone for Rivian and the shift to
sustainable mobility," said RJ Scaringe, Rivian founder and CEO. "Beyond
simply eliminating compromises that exist around performance,
capability and efficiency, we are working to drive innovation across the
entire customer experience. Delivering on this vision requires the
right partners, and we are excited to have Amazon with us on our journey
to create products, technology and experiences that reset expectations
of what is possible."
The announcement did not
detail how much Amazon specifically will invest in Rivian. For the
ecommerce giant, the move follows barely a week after it joined in with
venture capital firm Sequoia, as well as Lightspeed Venture Partners,
Shell Ventures and others, to take a stake in Aurora. That deal put a roughly $2.5 billion valuation on Aurora, an autonomous vehicle technology start-up run by Waymo and Tesla alumni.
Exactly why Amazon would
want to make such moves remains hazy, though it follows steps taken by
other high-tech firms, such as Alphabet and Apple to explore
opportunities in electrified and autonomous mobility....
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