Rivian's IPO

Electric SUV maker Rivian on Friday said it had filed for an IPO with the SEC. The media report a potential market valuation of $80bn for Rivian. However, this valuation is extremely high, given that the startup has yet to sell a single electric vehicle.

Rivian announced on Friday that it had confidentially applied to the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") for registration for a proposed public listing (IPO).

The move by Rivian indicates that the company plans to take the traditional route of going public, as opposed to the increasingly popular way for start-ups to go public, through a merger with a specialist stock acquisition company ("SPAC").

This is good news for investors, as the funds raised from the IPO should help Rivian accelerate production and ramp up delivery.

Electric SUV startup Rivian has become known for large amounts of funds raised from companies such as Amazon (AMZN)($700m round) and Ford (F)($500m), as well as investment funds T. Rowe Price ($1.3bn), Soros Fund Management, car dealer Cox Automotive ($350m) and others.

After the investment, Amazon reportedly owns at least 10% of Rivian, with Ford and founder/CEO Robert J. Scaringe also holding a large stake. However, exact information on the capital split is not yet publicly available.

Amazon is Rivian's biggest customer to date, with the e-commerce giant having ordered 10,000 electric trucks specifically designed for parcel delivery.

In total, Rivian has raised around $10.5 billion, you can read more about the funding rounds in the company's press releases. The electric vehicle startup began raising investment after it unveiled its R1T pickup truck at Overland West, Arizona in May 2019.

The company is positioning its electric SUVs as the ideal vehicles for travel, with Rivian developing their battery packs themselves and the autos will have "semi-autonomous driving systems" (autopilot).

The five-seat R1T pickup and seven-seat R1S SUV have a range of about 480km, with prices starting at $67,500 and $70,000 respectively.

Rivian will produce its cars at the Illinois plant, which has been converted from the old Mitsubishi plant, following its purchase in 2017. According to the latest reports, the company now employs around 7,000 people.