British electric vehicle startup Arrival said on Wednesday it has raised $118 million from U.S. funds manager BlackRock Inc.
Five-year-old Arrival is focused on development of electric commercial vehicles, including vans and buses. It previously had raised $111 million from Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co and sister company Kia Motors Corp, as well as an undisclosed amount from United Parcel Service, reports Reuters.
Before the latest funding round, Arrival was valued at $3.3 billion by investor website PitchBook. Arrival has an order for 10,000 electric delivery vans from UPS, with an option for another 10,000.
It is positioned as a potential rival to U.S. startup Rivian, which is backed by Ford Motor F.N and Amazon, among others, and is building 100,000 electric delivery vans for Amazon. BlackRock also is backing Rivian.
