Rivian – Company Profile

Rivian is an automotive firm that focuses on developing the technology needed to drive electric autonomous vehicles. With launch of two products, an electric truck named R1T and an SUV named R1S, Rivian has also taken up the role of an automobile manufacturer. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Plymouth, Michigan, U.S. It also has facilities in other locations such as Irvine, California; San Jose, California; Normal, Illinois; and Carson, California.

Rivian was founded with the primary objective to provide an effective alternative to the existing breed of fossil fuel driven vehicles. The mission was not just about launching new products, but also to shift consumer mindsets in favor of non-polluting and sustainable means of transport. The company is also working to develop a subscription based system that can replace the existing system of car ownership.

History:

Many people are passionate about cars and Rivian founder Robert RJ Scaringe had similar emotions since his early days. At a young age, Scaringe developed a great fascination for automobile manufacturing and decided that he will make a career in car manufacturing business. However, when Scaringe noticed that the current generation of fossil fuel cars are causing great damage to the environment, he decided to work on electric vehicles. After completing his education, Scaringe launched Rivian in 2009. Since then, the company has grown significantly in terms of operations and market value. It currently has employee strength of more than 3k.

Funding:

Rivian is one of the well-funded companies in automotive space. Through eight rounds of funding, the company has received investments worth USD 5.6 billion. Top investors include Sumitomo Corporation, Standard Chartered Bank, Amazon, Ford Motor Company, Cox Automotive, and T Rowe Price.

Acquisitions:

Rivian has not made any acquisitions in recent times. However, looking at the growing number of automotive technology companies, some mergers and acquisitions may be possible in the future.

Competitors:

Rivian competes with several other companies that are working on electric vehicles and autonomous driving technology. Some key rivals include Lucid, Faraday Future, Byton, Rimac Automobili, Uniti, Karma Automotive, XPeng, Fisker Automotive and Nikola Corporation. As is evident, Rivian is up against some of the best automotive startups in the world.

Rivian founder:

Rivian was founded by Robert RJ Scaringe in 2009. Scaringe currently serves as the CEO of the company. He has completed his MS in mechanical engineering (automotive) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has also done PhD in mechanical engineering (automotive) from Sloan Automotive Lab at MIT.