Electric pickup startup Rivian is closing a new round of financing that would put its valuation at an impressive $ 25 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Rivian is a money-raising machine
Since entering the scene in style in late 2018 with the launch of his R1T and R1S electric trucks, Rivian has managed to raise an impressive amount of money from major investors.
In February 2019, Rivian did a $ 700 million financing round led by Amazon, and Ford invested $ 500 million in starting the electric pickup just two months later.
The startup also added Cox Automotive as an investor with a $ 350 million spin in September.
He ended 2019 with a massive $ 1.3 billion financing round in December.
In 2020, the company returned to the bank and managed to raise another $ 2.5 billion from existing investors and also from T. Rowe Price, a major Tesla investor.
This raised Rivian’s total to more than $ 5 billion in just two years.
Rivian valued at $ 25 billion?
Now, the company is reportedly returning to the well with a new round of financing about to close, according to a new report by Bloomberg:
“Several current Rivian investors are participating in the round, which will raise several billion dollars, people added, asking not to be named because the matter is private.”
Although the exact amount to be raised is not known, the report says it would put the company’s valuation at around $ 25 billion, despite not yet delivering a product.
For comparison, Ford, which is one of Rivian’s first investors, is valued at $ 33 billion.
Electrek’s opinion: I would really invest at that price
While $ 25 billion may seem expensive for a company that has not yet delivered a product, I think it can be a good price.
You have to take into account all the essential partners that Rivian has acquired, especially Amazon, and the fact that the retail giant has placed a massive order for 100,000 vehicles for the company.
Also, although we don’t have the data, I’m willing to bet that Rivian’s R1T and R1S orders are looking good, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they reorder in 2022.
Although they have already experienced delays and have not yet delivered a vehicle, I think they are in a better position to put an electric pickup into production this year.
The betting odds even reflected this when a betting site started taking bets on the run to deliver an electric truck.
Also, in a world where all other EV companies are rushing to make a SPAC deal to go public, Rivian seems happy to keep venture capital and stay away from hype until they deliver a product. I respect this.
Although I’m not surprised if they go public later this year or early 2022, after the start of deliveries of the R1T / R1S and the delivery van from Amazon.
At that time, Ford’s stake in Rivian could strangely be worth more than its own market capitalization.
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