Rivian
R.J. Scaringe founded Rivian in 2009 to revolutionize the electric vehicle market. The company focuses on adventure-ready electric trucks and SUVs. Rivian aims to create sustainable transportation with advanced technology. The company launched its first models, the R1T and R1S, in 2021.
Rivian has attracted significant investment from major players. Amazon, Ford, and Cox Automotive invested heavily in the company’s vision, among others, before it went public in November 2021. The company plans to build a vast network of charging stations. Rivian also emphasizes eco-friendly practices and sustainability.
| Founded Date | 2009 |
| Status | Public, IPO (RIVN) |
| Founders | R.J. Scaringe |
| Investors | Abdul Latif Jameel, Amazon, BlackRock, Coatue Management, Cox Automotive, D1 Capital Partners, Dragoneer Investment Group, Fidelity Management & Research, Ford, Pario Ventures, Soros Fund Management, Sumitomo Corporation, Third Point Ventures |
Volkswagen’s Silicon Valley software hub is already stacked with Rivian talent
VW Group’s struggling software arm Cariad has hired at least 23 of the startup’s top employees over the past several months.
AI-powered drug development, VW teams up with Rivian and DEI is ‘bad’
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VW taps Rivian in $5B EV deal and the fight over Fisker’s assets
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Am I…
Volkswagen Group will invest $1 billion into EV startup Rivian as part of a broad software development deal that could expand to as much as $5 billion. It’s a boon…
Ford’s secretive, low-cost EV team is growing with talent from Rivian, Tesla and Apple
A TechCrunch review of LinkedIn data found that Ford has built this team up to around 300 employees over the last year.
Rivian needs to sell its new revamped vehicles at a profit in order to sustain itself long enough to get to the cheaper mass market R2 SUV on the road.
Featured Article
Rivian overhauled the R1S and R1T to entice new buyers ahead of cheaper R2 launch
Rivian has changed 600 parts on its R1S SUV and R1T pickup truck in a bid to drive down manufacturing costs, while improving performance of its flagship vehicles. The end goal, which will play out over the coming year, is an existential one. Rivian lost about $38,784 on every vehicle…
Rivian lost $1.45 billion in the first quarter, showing that its recent company-wide cost-cutting measures have a ways to go before it can approach profitability. The EV-maker brought in $1.2…
Rivian wins $827M incentive package to expand Illinois factory for R2 production
Rivian is getting $827 million in incentives from the state of Illinois to support building its next-generation electric vehicle, known as the R2. The company announced Thursday that the Illinois…
Rivian targets gas-powered Ford and Toyota trucks and SUVs with $5,000 ‘electric upgrade’ discount
Rivian is offering discounts of up to $5,000 on its EVs — and a year of free charging — to customers willing to trade in their gas-powered trucks and SUVs.…
Rivian has a challenging year ahead — and the first quarter is off to a tepid start. The EV startup announced Tuesday that it built 13,980 vehicles and delivered 13,588…
Featured Article
TechCrunch Mobility: The wheels are starting to come off the Fisker EV bus
TechCrunch Mobility is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click TechCrunch Mobility — to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free. Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Before we…
Rivian starts offering adapters to access Tesla’s Supercharger network
Rivian customers can now request an adapter to tap into Tesla’s vast North American network of Superchargers, making it the second automaker to do so behind Ford. The company announced…
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TechCrunch Minute: Why little EVs from Rivian and Telo could thaw the EV winter
The great EV boom is fading a bit, but that’s not a concern if you take a long-enough view. Sure, Tesla expects slower growth for its car sales this year,…
Rivian’s big bet, Waymo goes driverless in Austin and the Chevy Blazer EV returns
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. This week was all about Rivian and its splashy reveal of three…
Rivian’s new ‘treehouse’ rooftop tent comes with a movie projector
Rivian has a little cinematic surprise tucked in its new “treehouse” rooftop tent, one of the many accessories the automaker plans to sell alongside its next-generation R2 SUV and future…
The Rivian R2 SUV racks up 68,000 reservations a day after reveal
The Rivian R2, an all-electric sport utility vehicle that’s smaller and more affordable than the automaker’s flagship SUV, appears to be a hit with potential customers. At least, if the…
Featured Article
Rivian takes the wraps off $45K R2 SUV, its biggest bet yet
As customers, VIP guests and media milled into the Rivian South Coast Theater in Laguna Beach on Thursday — the Pacific Ocean crashing on the beach just a few hundred feet away — a mix of hope and excitement rippled through the arena. The occasion was the unveiling of the…
Rivian surprise announces the R3 hatchback, and it’s cute as hell
Rivian just surprise-announced an all-electric hatchback called the R3 — giving the company a big Apple-esque “one more thing” announcement at the event that was ostensibly supposed to be all…
Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Rivian…
Rivian lays off 10% of workforce as EV pricing pressure mounts
Rivian is laying off 10% of its salaried workforce in a bid to cut costs in an increasingly tough market for electric vehicles, putting even more pressure on its future,…
Rivian will reveal its smaller, cheaper R2 SUV on March 7
Rivian will reveal its next-generation vehicle — a smaller, cheaper electric SUV known as R2 — on March 7, the company announced Monday morning. There’s little other detail about the…
Rivian deliveries slip 10% in Q4, raising demand questions
Rivian reported Tuesday it produced 17,541 vehicles at its Normal, Illinois factory and delivered 13,972 to customers in the fourth quarter, mixed results that left investors wary and sent shares…
Rivian launches leasing program for its all-electric R1T pickup in 14 states
Rivian kicked off Monday a limited program that will give customers in select U.S. states the option to lease an all-electric R1T pickup truck. For now, customers living in 14…
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe is now taking over the top product role at the EV maker
Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe has taken on another role within the publicly traded EV maker as chief product officer Nick Kalayjian moves out of the job and eventually…
A software update bricked Rivian infotainment systems
Welcome to the future, where your car is a computer and a “fat finger” can grind your tunes to a halt. On Monday, Rivian put out — then abruptly canceled…
Rivian eyes software upcharges around AR and autonomy, not heated seats
We’re well past the revelation that automakers are software companies. But as the industry deepens its software roots, firms are still figuring out which upgrades they’ll charge for — and…
Rivian raises production forecast for 2023, narrows losses in Q3
Rivian continued to close the gap on losses, reduce costs and ramp up production in the third quarter with results that beat Wall Street expectations and suggested a rosier future, including…
Rivian vans are no longer an Amazon exclusive. The automaker said on Tuesday that it will now let other companies buy its commercial electric vans, ending an exclusivity deal that…
