Tesla rival Rivian adds $2.5 billion investment led by T. Rowe Price

(Reuters) - Electric vehicle startup Rivian, which is backed by Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Ford Motor (NYSE: F) and aims to put an electric pickup and SUV in production in 2021, boosted its war chest further with a $2.5-billion investment round led by T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ: TROW), Rivian said Friday.

The deal comes on the heels of electric car maker Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) meteoric rise in valuation and the recent public offering of Nikola Corp (NASDAQ: NKLA). Both Tesla and Nikola are planning electric pickups to rival Rivian.

The new round takes total investment in Rivian to at least $6 billion, including a $1.3 billion round in December led by T. Rowe Price and including Amazon, Ford and BlackRock, according to investor website Pitchbook.

Rivian's latest fundraising was joined by Soros Fund Management, Coatue Management, Fidelity Management and Research Company, and Baron Capital Group. Amazon and BlackRock also participated.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru and Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Ramakrishnan M. and Nick Zieminski)

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