Amazon.com Inc. isn’t placing as big a focus on autonomous driving as certain other tech giants, but it’s nonetheless starting to build up a substantial presence in the auto market.

The company today was named as the main backer of a $700 million funding round into Rivian Automotive Inc., a Michigan-based electric truck startup. The news comes a week after Amazon made its first public investment in the self-driving car market. It joined a Sequoia Capital-led consortium to bet $530 million on Aurora Innovation Inc., an autonomous vehicle startup now valued at $2.5 billion

Rivian didn’t disclose its post-money valuation or name the other participants in the $700 million round. The startup only said that the investment included contributions from unspecified existing shareholders, while a Reuters report earlier this week claimed General Motors Co. was planned to take part as well. Sources told the newswire the round could value Rivian at as much as $3 billion.

The auto startup operated in almost total secrecy for nine years until the Los Angeles Auto Show last November, when it debuted its first two electric vehicles: a pickup truck and a sport utility vehicle. Rivian said the models are suitable for off-road use, can travel up to 400 miles on a single charge and take three seconds to reach 60 miles per hour. 

Set to become available in late 2020, the vehicles are both based on a “skateboard” frame that the startup has engineering in-house. It can accommodate what Rivian describes as the world’s largest automotive battery pack and is versatile enough to serve as the foundation of multiple vehicle types.

That second point could be one of the main reasons Amazon has decided to back the startup. The online retail giant may be interested in partnering with Rivian to produce new vehicles for its delivery fleet, which it’s expanding rapidly to support rising e-commerce sales. Amazon spent $9 billion on shipping last quarter and recently grew its fleet of cargo planes to 50 jets.

The $700 million investment is hardly the first example of a tech giant making strategic investments in its supply chain. In 2017, Apple Inc. provided partner Finisar Corp. with $390 million to ramp up production of a laser emitter that powers the iPhone’s facial recognition feature.

Rivian may put its new funding to similar use. The startup maintains a 2.6-million-square-foot auto plant in Normal, Illinois, that it may expand ahead of the planned 2020 launch of its two vehicles. Adding more production capacity would also help Rivian prepare for future demand from potential commercial customers such as Amazon.

Photo: Amazon