Rivian, a startup from Berlin that helps car manufacturers design and make autonomous vehicles, begins trading today after an initial public offering of $3.1bn – the largest ever for an internet company in Europe.
While the vast majority of American tech companies that go public remain private for years, making their earnings available only by providing little hints to their eventual public markets debut, Rivian’s largest investors will be able to benefit immediately from the IPO.
Tulsi Gabbard, who is the nation’s first Indian-American congresswoman and currently is serving her third term, leads Rivian’s biggest investor, TAL Education Group, a Chinese education company that owns and operates Kumon, a private school chain in China.
Rivian raised $1.8bn in the IPO from its IPO, according to the company. Each share sold for $39, and according to TAL’s S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company decided to issue the $3.1bn rather than a significant number of shares at a lower price.
Rivian said it needs the money to not only develop its autonomous vehicles but also build the network of charging stations and other infrastructure that automakers will need to be able to take autonomous driving and delivery services into the urban and suburban areas they inhabit.
“By creating the world’s only fully self-driving manufacturing platform, Rivian will unlock a new global automotive marketplace,” says the Rivian’s CEO, Sam Abuelsamid.