DETROIT (Reuters) - Rivian, an electric vehicle startup backed by Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O and Ford Motor Co that aims to put an electric pickup and SUV in production this year, on Tuesday announced a $2.65-billion investment round led by T. Rowe Price. Rivian said it has raised $8 billion since the start of 2019. The California company’s new valuation with this latest investment is $27.6 billion, according to a person familiar with Rivian’s financials. “This is a critical year for us as we are launching the R1T (pickup), the R1S (SUV) and the Amazon commercial delivery vehicles,” Rivian Chief Executive Officer R.J. Scaringe said in a statement. “The support and confidence of our investors enables us to remain focused on these launches while simultaneously scaling our business for our next stage of growth.” Rivian has said deliveries of pickups would start in June, while those of SUVs would begin in August. Launch editions of the vehicles are priced at $75,000 and $77,500, respectively, with a 300-mile (480 km) driving range for both. Amazon ordered 100,000 electric vans from Rivian. The first Amazon vehicles go into production at Rivian’s factory in Normal, Illinois in late 2021, with all deliveries to be completed by 2024. Rivian plans to follow those products with smaller models targeted at China and Europe, Scaringe told Reuters in November. Tuesday’s funding round also includes Fidelity Management and Research Company, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Coatue and D1 Capital Partners. Several other existing and new investors will also participate. T. Rowe Price led a $2.5 billion funding round into Rivian last July. Other previous investors in Rivian include Soros Fund Management, BlackRock and Saudi auto distributor Abdul Latif Jameel Co (ALJ).