Rivian Targets IPO Before Year's End

Rivian Automotive is seeking to go public in the fall and targeting a valuation of at least $50 billion, according to the latest reports. The all-electric startup company, supported by Amazon and the Ford Motor Company, has already amassed around $8 million from investors and was valued at $27.6 billion less than a month ago.

While we couldn’t possibly say what it’s actually worth, burgeoning EV manufacturers have performed incredibly well on the stock market lately. Rivian would almost assuredly see its valuation balloon to the targeted sum through an initial public offering. It already has a product line, 3,600 employees spread between the Midwest and California, some serious marketing under its belt, and a relatively strong relationship with a few of the world’s largest companies. We’ve seen more done with far less on Wall Street.

It also has the right kind of people interested in it — at least that’s how most big investors should feel. Bloomberg noted that Rivian’s last big round of investments included raising $2.65 billion from a team headed by the T. Rowe Price Group.

From Bloomberg:

Rivian also has a deal with Amazon to build 100,000 custom electric delivery vans by 2030. In the near-term, the companies say 10,000 of the vans will be on the road making deliveries by 2022. Rivian will build three different models of the van, which is capable of going about 150 miles on a single charge.

Production and U.S. deliveries of its debut consumer EV, the R1T pickup, are due to start in June. The company will then start delivering its R1S SUV in August. The company has retrofitted a former Mitsubishi Motors plant in Normal, Ill., where it also plans to build the EV delivery van for Amazon.

Rivian is well on its way to becoming a real automaker, which bodes well. Other EV manufacturers have performed incredibly strong just by making big promises ahead of a listing. For example, Nikola managed to see its valuation surge to ludicrous levels (over $30 billion) last year before being shorted by Hindenburg Research after it pointed out what were essentially fraudulent claims made by the company.Granted, the EV startup didn’t have a traditional IPO and instead used a special-purpose-acquisition company called VectorIQ to guarantee a higher valuation. But it was destined for true investment greatness the moment every financial advisement outlet started talking about pumping it up and then dumping. Nikola is currently making headlines over a potential breakthrough in hydrogen, with plenty of discussion on what this means for investors. Expect a similar existence for Rivian (hopefully minus the fibbing) until it can prove itself as a profitable automaker and backers lose all interest.[Images: Rivian]