Rivian Automotive Inc.’s RIVN shares are up 13% in pre-market trading after German automaker Volkswagen Group VWAGY increased their planned investment into the EV startup to $5.8 billion and kickstarted their joint venture.

What Happened: The two companies announced their plans for a joint venture in June. As part of the deal, Volkswagen was expected to invest about $5 billion into loss-making Rivian.

However, Rivian said on Tuesday that the joint venture called Rivian and VW Group Technology, LLC is expected to start on Nov. 13 and Volkswagen will invest up to $5.8 billion in Rivian and the JV by 2027 as part of the deal, marking an increase of about 16% in planned investment.

About The New JV: The joint venture between the two players is aimed at providing next-generation electrical architecture and software technology for both companies’ future electric vehicles including Rivian’s R2 vehicle slated to enter production in the first half of 2026 at the company’s Normal, Illinois factory.

Developers and software engineers from both companies are expected to join the joint venture. While teams will initially be based in Palo Alto, California, three other sites are in development in North America and Europe, Rivian said in a statement on Tuesday.

Rivian’s Wassym Bensaid and Volkswagen’s Carsten Helbing will lead the joint venture as co-CEOs.

Price Action: Rivian shares closed down 4.2% at $10.58 on Tuesday, but were up over 13% in the pre-market session on Wednesday. The stock is down by about 50% year-to-date, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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Photo courtesy: Rivian