Arrival
A British company that aimed to build electric delivery vans and buses in microfactories
- Founded
- 2015
- Closed
- 2024
- Lifespan
- 9 years
- Total funding
- $229 million
- Peak valuation
- $15 billion
- Country
- United Kingdom
- City
- London
- Sector
- Mobility and transport
- Founders
- Denis Sverdlov
- Investors
- Hyundai, Kia, BlackRock, UPS
- At its peak
- An order from UPS for 10,000 electric delivery vehicles plus an option on 10,000 more (2020)
- Cause of closure
- Product problems
What did it do?
Arrival was a British manufacturer that set out to develop light commercial electric vehicles. The company planned to turn a skateboard platform housing the batteries and drivetrain into finished vehicles in microfactories of around 10,000 square metres. The vehicles it developed included delivery vans, a bus and a car for Uber drivers.
Why did it shut down?
After listing on Nasdaq through a SPAC merger in March 2021, the company peaked at a value of USD 15 billion, but series production never got going. In October 2022 the decision to move van production from Bicester to the US brought layoffs, and in January 2023 800 people, half its UK workforce, were let go. In 2023 a second SPAC merger was called off over concerns about production delays, and an expected USD 25 million investment from a hedge fund also fell through. By January 2023 its market value had fallen to USD 250 million. The company was delisted in January 2024; its UK arm went into administration in February 2024 and its assets were sold to Canoo in March 2024.
The story
When Arrival began trading on Nasdaq in March 2021, Forbes reported that founder Denis Sverdlov's fortune had reached USD 10.6 billion. Shortly afterwards the company's value hit a peak of USD 15 billion. Two years later, in January 2023, the same company was worth USD 250 million.
Arrival was founded in 2015, with its headquarters in London, by Denis Sverdlov, a Russian businessman and former deputy communications minister. The company's idea was to turn a skateboard platform housing the batteries and drivetrain into finished vehicles in microfactories of around 10,000 square metres. In January 2020 Hyundai and Kia invested EUR 100 million, and the company became a unicorn at a EUR 3 billion valuation. That same month UPS invested in the company, ordered 10,000 electric delivery vehicles and took an option on 10,000 more. BlackRock also invested USD 118 million in 2020.
In November 2020 the company announced it would go public by merging with a SPAC called CIIG Merger Corp. at a valuation of USD 5.4 billion. In the months that followed, a North American headquarters was set up in Charlotte, microfactories were planned in Rock Hill for buses and in Charlotte for UPS vans, a car for Uber drivers was announced, and a factory was acquired at Bicester in the UK. None of these goals, however, turned into series production.
In October 2022 the decision to move van production to the US brought layoffs; in January 2023, under new CEO Igor Torgov, half the UK workforce, 800 people, lost their jobs. In 2023 a planned second SPAC merger with Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp V was called off over concerns about production delays, and an additional USD 25 million investment from Antara Capital also fell through. Arrival was delisted in January 2024; its UK arm went into administration in February 2024 and its assets were sold to Canoo in March 2024. Canoo itself went bankrupt in January 2025.
Arrival's story shows the risk of trying to prove a new product and a brand-new manufacturing method at the same time. Big orders and a record valuation inflated the promise; but as long as no vehicles rolled out of the factory, that promise quickly lost value in the market's eyes.
Lessons for founders
- Trying to prove a brand-new manufacturing method and a new product at the same time multiplies the risk; validate one first.
- Big order announcements are not delivery capacity; until you can show how many vehicles you can build by what date, investor confidence is fragile.
- Nail down series production in a single plant instead of building factories in several countries at once.
Sources
- Arrival (company) (Wikipedia)
- Arrival: Electric van maker's UK arm enters administration (BBC News, 2024-02-05)
- Bankrupt EV startup Arrival sold its assets to Canoo (TechCrunch, 2024-03-25)
- UK electric vehicle maker Arrival is going public via SPAC at a $5.4 billion valuation (CNBC, 2020-11-18)
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