Ford and Rivian Nix Plans to Make an Electric Vehicle Together

Harri Weber

Harri is dot.LA's senior finance reporter. She previously worked for Gizmodo, Fast Company, VentureBeat and Flipboard. Find her on Twitter and send tips on L.A. startups and venture capital to harrison@dot.la.

Rivian

Ford, one of Rivian's biggest investors, no longer has plans to develop an electric vehicle using the high-flying EV company's tech, Rivian said on Friday.

"As Ford has scaled its own EV strategy and demand for Rivian vehicles has grown, we've mutually decided to focus on our own projects and deliveries," the company said in a statement.


Ford and Rivian originally planned to co-develop an electric Lincoln SUV, but after the pandemic set in, the two canceled the collaboration.

Still, Ford had left the door open for a joint effort. "Lincoln essentially has decided that it was going to take its own approach to electrification," Ford's then-CFO Tim Stone told the Detroit News in 2020. "And we're similarly committed to Rivian as a partner and we will continue to look for opportunities to partner with Rivian on non-Lincoln product." [sic]

While announcing the split, Rivian called its "relationship with Ford an important part of [its] journey," and added that the company "remains an investor and ally on our shared path to an electrified future."

Ford had to elbow its longtime rival General Motors out of the way to secure its 12% stake in Rivian, the Wall Street Journal recently reported. Today, Rivian's market cap sits near $110 billion, while Ford's market value is tens of billions of dollars less, at approximately $77.5 billion.

Meanwhile, Rivian has its hands full. The company's backlog of about 55,400 pre-orders now stretches to the end of 2023, according to a recent regulatory filing. The firm is simultaneously racing to deliver 10,000 electric delivery vans to Amazon, its largest investor, by the end of 2022.

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LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec
LA Tech ‘Moves’:

“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.

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This Week in ‘Raises’: GITAI Lands $30M, Steno Gains $15M

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local space robotics startup raised fresh funding to expand the flight model manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. and increase employment, while a remote litigation platform raised more funding to continue growing its footprint in new markets across the country, develop service channels for its clients and continue expanding its tech team.

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Gitai Secures $30 Million in Funding to Continue Space Robotics Developments

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Gitai Secures $30 Million in Funding to Continue Space Robotics Developments
\u200bPhoto: Gitai

Space robotics company Gitai raised a $30 million Series B extension this week, bringing the total value of the round to roughly $47 million.

The funding will be used to further develop Gitai’s suite of space robots as well as build out its manufacturing footprint in Torrance. Previously Gitai announced it raised a $17.1 million Series B in March 2021; this additional raise is still part of that round.

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