RJ Scaringe has raised more than $12 billion across three startups and investors still want more | TechCrunch

"In less than a decade, the serial entrepreneur best known for his EV company Rivian, has raised more than $12.3 billion from venture capital firms, as well as strategic and institutional investors for his three - and counting - startups. If the latest $400 million raise for his new venture Mind Robotics is an indicator, investors are still happily piling in."

"Outsized raises for newly minted startups have become more common in recent years. But those hundred-million-plus seed rounds have generally been reserved for buzzy defense tech startups or AI companies founded by former OpenAI or Anthropic employees. Those supersized seeds certainly weren't flowing toward something as niche as an electric micromobility startup."

"And yet in 2025, Scaringe raised $105 million for exactly that - a startup called Also, which he founded that same year. The total has since surpassed $300 million, with DoorDash among its backers. Jiten Behl, partner at Eclipse and former chief growth officer at Rivian, has spent years watching and learning from Scaringe."

""When RJ explains a certain issue, topic, opportunity, vision, he just has this very unique ability to communicate it so effectively, and it comes across so credible," Behl said. "He's not trying to undersell the difficulty or oversell the opportunity, and that's an art.""

RJ Scaringe, known for Rivian, has raised more than $12.3 billion in under a decade across three or more startups. Investors continue to fund his newest venture, Mind Robotics, with a reported $400 million raise. Large seed rounds have become more common, but they have typically gone to defense tech or AI startups rather than niche electric micromobility. In 2025, Scaringe raised $105 million for Also, an electric micromobility startup he founded that year, and the total later surpassed $300 million with DoorDash among backers. Eclipse, a major backer led by Jiten Behl, also led rounds for Also and Mind Robotics. Behl attributes Scaringe’s success to effective, credible communication that accurately presents difficulty and opportunity.

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