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Arrival valued at $3bn two years after Innovate UK funding
A UK maker of electric, autonomous-ready vehicles backed by Innovate UK has achieved ‘unicorn’ status, defined as a valuation of more than $1bn.
Arrival’s valuation in early 2020 put the company’s value at €3bn, following an investment of €100m from Hyundai Motor Group. The investment marked the start of a strategic partnership between the automakers to jointly accelerate the adoption of commercial electric vehicles globally.
The news of Arrival’s valuation was followed by an announcement that UPS had placed an order for 10,000 of Arrival’s electric delivery vehicles, with the option of a further 10,000 over the coming years. The move forms part of UPS’s strategy to transform its fleet to zero emissions.
Two years after securing funding from Innovate UK, Arrival has secured ‘unicorn’ status with a valuation of $3bn / Picture: Arrival
Nick Clay, head of homologation and regulatory affairs at Arrival, said: “Arrival’s vehicles represent a new category of electric transportation that surpasses traditional equivalents in their design and their cost.
“Arrival’s focus is on the experience for everyone who interacts with an Arrival product – that might be the driver, the passengers, a cleaner or fleet operator. In addition, we have worked so that our zero-emissions vehicles achieve price parity with fossil-fuel equivalents, with customers making even greater savings over the lifetime of the vehicle.”
To meet the anticipated demand from the transportation and logistics industry, Arrival will build microfactories located close to areas of demand and utilising local supply chains, the first of which will open near Bicester, Oxfordshire.
Nick added: “Our microfactories have been designed with a minimal footprint so they can be located closer to urban areas and produce products that are custom for the local market. This smaller footprint also means that they will cost less to build and be quicker to deploy so we can bring our products to market more rapidly.”
Arrival’s recent success comes off the back of government-funded research and development. The company took part in five research projects in 2018 and received total funding of £7.5m, £5.6m of which came from the Industry Strategy Challenge Fund for the Robopilot project. Arrival’s part in the project was to develop autonomous driving systems.
Earlier in 2020, Arrival secured an order from UPS for 10,000 of its electric delivery vehicles / Picture: Arrival
Since 2018, Arrival’s headcount has grown from 525 to over 1,000 globally, as efforts have been placed on developing the wider ecosystem around its zero-emission vehicles, including self-driving technology, charging and software, with the goal of creating an integrated transportation system for cities that is sustainable.
The company’s most recent product, the Arrival Bus, is described as a ‘best-in-class’, zero-emissions bus designed with the end user’s experience in mind, focusing on providing an attractive, hygienic and comfortable environment for urban travel.
Nick concluded: “Through projects with Innovate UK, we have fostered relationships with industry leaders such as UPS, EDF and First Group, helping to build our reputation and expand our knowledge as we seek to make urban environments sustainable.”