It’s been quite a ride this month for RJ Scaringe, founder and chief executive of Rivian Automotive Inc.
In early March, Scaringe’s side project, Mind Robotics, announced a $500 million Series A funding round, valuing the startup at $2 billion.
Then on March 19, Rivian announced a $1.25 billion investment from Uber to deploy up to 50,000 fully autonomous R2 robotaxis.
The electric car maker is now starting to sell its newest vehicle — the R2 — which is promised as the product that can help the company double its annual sales to $11.5 billion in 2027.
“We’re big believers in Rivian’s approach—designing the vehicle, compute platform, and software stack together, while maintaining end-to-end control of scaled manufacturing and supply in the U.S.,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement.
While there have been doubts whether Rivian could survive, including from rival Elon Musk, the Irvine-based EV maker has convinced companies like Volkswagen and Amazon to pour billions into the firm.
After sinking to a 52-week low of $10.36 a year ago, the stock has climbed 51% to $15.62 and a $19.4 billion market cap at press time (Nasdaq: RIVN).
In addition, Scaringe appears to be on his way to his third unicorn with an electric bicycle company called ALSO, which may be valued at $1 billion (see separate story, this page).
The Uber Deal
Uber said it will invest in the automaker through 2031, subject to certain milestones, with the goal of having a fleet of self-driving robotaxis available exclusively through its rideshare platform.
An initial $300 million investment has already been committed, with the first round of vehicles expected in 2028.
This first phase will include 10,000 robotaxis and is scheduled to deploy in San Francisco and Miami. Beginning in 2030, Uber and Rivian will have the option to negotiate the purchase of up to 40,000 more autonomous R2s.
The venture plans to launch the electric robotaxis to 25 cities by 2031, eyeing Canada and Europe as well.
“We couldn’t be more excited about this partnership with Uber — it will help accelerate our path to level 4 autonomy to create one of the safest and most convenient autonomous platforms in the world,” Scaringe said in a statement.
According to an interview with Yahoo Finance, Scaringe said he and Khosrowshahi had been discussing the deal “for maybe about a year” since the two had previously known each other for a long time.
The Rivian CEO noted that this was one of the larger deals Uber had done in terms of investment and fleet size.
“We’re very, very bullish on the rate of progress that we’re going to see as an industry towards Level four (self-driving),” he told Yahoo Finance.
The collaboration with Uber follows Rivian’s reveal of its third-generation autonomy platform and in-house made chip last December and coincides with the launch of the automaker’s R2 model this spring, with the initial launch edition starting at $57,990.
Rivian’s deliveries last year declined 18% to 42,247 vehicles at its plant in Normal, Illinois.
However, with the upcoming launch of its R2, Rivian is predicting 2026 deliveries to rise to between 62,000 and 67,000, indicating a 47% to 59% jump. The EV maker also has a second facility in the works in Georgia with construction expected to start in 2026.
The Robot Deal
Scaringe founded Mind Robotics in 2025 to develop an automated robotics system to use in Rivian’s own manufacturing facilities.
The company addresses “a structural gap with current industrial automation solutions.”
“As AI enters the physical world, we believe the largest, at-scale application for advanced robotics will be across the industrial sector,” Scaringe said in a statement.
The Palo Alto-based firm, led by Scaringe as chairman, is building AI-enabled robotic models, hardware and deployment infrastructure for future vehicle production to replace existing industrial robotics that require “human-like dexterity, adaptation, and physical reasoning.”
“We’re building robots that will perform real tasks, in real plants, at real scale,” Scaringe said.
Rivian is the firm’s major shareholder and partner, which means the Irvine-based automaker provides Mind Robotics with a production data flywheel or feedback loop grounded in a live manufacturing environment for training the AI robotic models.
The Series A funding was led by well-known Silicon Valley venture capital firms Accel and Andreessen Horowitz.
“We back leaders, and this team has a track record that speaks for itself,” said Accel Partner Sameer Gandhi, who joins the startup’s board of directors as the deal closes this month. “They helped build one of the most ambitious manufacturing operations in the EV industry.
“That kind of execution doesn’t happen by accident; it reflects the quality of the people behind it.”
In late 2025, Mind Robotics raised $115 million in seed funding led by Eclipse Capital. Other investors include Hanabi Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Prysm Capital, Bain Capital Ventures (BCV), Greenoaks and Allen & Company LLC.
Scaringe told the Wall Street Journal that Mind Robotics will deploy a large number of robots, which should be capable of picking up parts and assembling components in the factory, by the end of the year.
“RJ is one of the very few founders who have built and scaled a vertically integrated hardware company,” said Andreessen Horowitz General Manager Sarah Wang.
“At Rivian, he architected the full stack — vehicle architecture, electronics, battery systems, embedded software, manufacturing processes, and supply chains — integrating each layer into a cohesive system,” Wang added.
“That kind of system creates powerful feedback loops between the product and the factory floor,” Bain Capital said on its LinkedIn page. “Mind Robotics starts with a similar philosophy — and with something most robotics companies spend years trying to access: a real industrial environment where the technology can train, improve, and compound over time.”
The EV Bikes Using Rivian Software
This spring also marks the first launch of Rivian Automotive spinoff ALSO Inc.
The firm, started in 2025 in Palo Alto, is releasing its initial lineup of electric bikes with software technology originally conceived at Rivian.
Its flagship vehicle is the TM-B electric bike with a portal digital touchscreen display and an integrated security system, similar to the features found in Rivian vehicles.
ALSO will also debut two electric quad bikes known as TM-Qs. One will be geared toward commercial clients and businesses, slated to launch in 2026. The second and smaller TM-Q is marketed for everyday consumers.
The spinoff will partner with the Irvine automaker, which maintains a minor stake, to sell the smaller electric vehicles at Rivian retail stores and online.
ALSO is collaborating with Amazon on a four-wheel electric vehicle for a future fleet of delivery quads as well.
ALSO secured a $105 million investment from Eclipse Ventures and another $200 million from Greenoaks Capital last year, according to Bloomberg News. This marked a $1 billion valuation for ALSO, becoming Scaringe’s third unicorn startup if the valuation holds.
—Emily Santiago Molina
