ALSO secures $200 million in Series C funding at a valuation of $1 billion.

      The Palo Alto small electric vehicle company, ALSO, has secured $200 million in a Series C funding round led by Greenoaks Capital, with DoorDash making a strategic investment alongside a multi-year commercial agreement aimed at deploying specially designed autonomous vehicles for last-mile delivery. Stanley Tang, a co-founder of DoorDash, will serve as a board observer.

      Originally spun out from Rivian in 2025, ALSO's latest funding round values the company at over $1 billion, with participation from Prysm Capital and a strategic investment from DoorDash. This partnership enhances the investment's significance beyond just a financial commitment.

      DoorDash co-founder and Head of DoorDash Labs, Stanley Tang, will take on the role of Board Observer for ALSO. Rivian maintains a substantial minority stake in the company.

      ALSO was first incubated within Rivian before becoming an independent small-EV entity. The company's product philosophy emphasizes that last-mile delivery—conducted in bike lanes, on narrow curbs, and within densely populated urban areas—necessitates vehicles specifically designed for these environments rather than simply applying autonomy to existing full-size models.

      The current offerings include the TM-B, an e-bike priced at $3,500 with a virtual drivetrain, and the TM-Q, a four-wheeled cargo electric vehicle built to transport goods while fitting into a bike lane.

      Although the companies have not disclosed which specific vehicle will be utilized under the DoorDash partnership, the TM-Q’s cargo capacity makes it a likely candidate for large-scale food delivery.

      What distinguishes this partnership is its structure; most investments in autonomous delivery only involve financial contributions with unclear deployment intentions. In contrast, DoorDash has committed to a commercial agreement with a definitive timeline, providing ALSO with access to a major operator's network for real-world testing.

      DoorDash, which has over 30% of its U.S. monthly active users ordering from grocery and retail sectors in addition to restaurants, has a strong motivation to lower delivery labor costs as it grows.

      Tang characterized autonomous small EVs as “optimal” for densely populated, mixed-use environments, framing the partnership as a solution to delivery challenges encountered at "the intersection of roadways, bike lanes, and road-adjacent areas," which generic autonomous platforms have yet to effectively address.

      ALSO aims to roll out its initial products in the U.S. by 2026, with plans for international expansion to follow. The Series C funding, along with DoorDash's commercial agreement, positions this as one of the first serious efforts to deploy purpose-built autonomous small EVs through an operator that handles substantial order volumes, rather than merely in controlled pilot scenarios.