Micromobility delivery startup Also, a Rivian spinoff, raised $200M led by Greenoaks at a $1B valuation and enters a multiyear partnership with DoorDash
Also, an electric bike and transportation startup spun out of Rivian Automotive Inc., has reached a $1 billion valuation in a new funding round …
Context & Ripple Effects
Also’s financing and DoorDash agreement extend Rivian’s recent pattern of creating stand-alone businesses around capabilities beyond its core vehicle operation, following the spinout of industrial AI and robotics company Mind Robotics. The new company now has both growth capital and a named delivery-platform partner.
The deal also arrives as Rivian deepens strategic ties across mobility: Uber’s planned Rivian investment tied to autonomous-vehicle deployment shows how vehicle makers are increasingly linking technology programs to large transportation networks. Also applies that logic to delivery-oriented micromobility rather than robotaxis.
First-order effects
- Also gains $200M of financing and a $1B valuation, giving the Rivian spinoff greater capacity to develop and commercialize its electric-bike and transportation offering.
- DoorDash gains a multiyear relationship with a vehicle-focused partner, potentially giving it a more direct channel to tailor micromobility equipment to delivery use cases.
Second-order effects
- Other delivery platforms and fleet providers face pressure to secure comparable vehicle partnerships or improve their own courier-transport economics, rather than treating vehicle access as a commodity.
- Rivian gains another route for its technology and product expertise to reach commercial users through a separate company, while Also’s reliance on a major platform customer makes execution against DoorDash’s needs especially consequential.
Third-order effects
- If such partnerships scale, last-mile delivery could shift toward more vertically coordinated ecosystems in which platforms influence the vehicles and fleet tools used by couriers, not just demand matching.
- The broader Rivian pattern—separating a robotics business and now backing a delivery-mobility spinoff—suggests automakers may increasingly monetize specialized capabilities through independent ventures; whether that produces durable businesses will depend on sustained commercial adoption, not funding alone.
The trend: This is one data point in the convergence of vehicle makers, specialized mobility startups, and delivery platforms around purpose-built commercial transportation networks.