Electric Truckmaker Rivian Announces $1.3 Billion Funding Round Backed by Amazon and Ford

Electric vehicles are in great demand now and Tesla is leading the way. But it seems like Tesla will have a big competitor in the electric vehicle game; Rivian, which is an electric truckmaker.

The company was founded in 2009. And the start-up has closed an investment round of $1.3 billion. The investment round included participation from Amazon, Ford Motor Company, and funds managed by Blackrock.

SEE ALSO: THIS STARTUP HAS PEOPLE CALLING ITS FOUNDER THE ELON MUSK OF ELECTRIC PICKUP TRUCKS

Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said, "This investment demonstrates confidence in our team, products, technology, and strategy – we are extremely excited to have the support from such strong shareholders."

This new investment is the fourth round of the company in 2019. In February 2019, a $700 million funding round led by Amazon. In April 2019, Ford Motor Company invested $500 million in Rivian and the companies would collaborate on a vehicle project. which would utilize Rivian's skateboard platform. In September 2019, Cox Automotive announced that it invested $350 million in Rivian, and the companies have plans to collaborate on logistics and service.

Apart from these investments, in September 2019, Rivian announced that it was collaborating with Amazon to develop an electric delivery van by using Rivian's platform technology.

Rivian's launch products R1T and R1S aren't on sale yet, just like any other products of Rivian. However; the cars will enter the market with customer deliveries expected to begin at the end of 2020. 

By then, we'll follow the brand and its activities closely, but it seems like Tesla has a strong component coming to town, which is supported by Amazon and Ford. Let the race begin.