Carvana partners with Bezos-backed Slate Auto for new car sales
▼ Summary
– Carvana received a warrant to buy shares in Slate Auto, an EV startup backed by Jeff Bezos, around the time Slate was raising its $650 million Series C round.
– Carvana is exploring expanding into new car sales, having purchased Stellantis dealerships, and CEO Ernie Garcia III hinted at future developments.
– Slate Auto is nearing final pricing and taking non-refundable preorders for its low-cost EV, starting in the mid-$20,000 range, with first deliveries expected by end of 2025.
– Slate plans to sell vehicles directly to customers without traditional dealerships, and partnering with Carvana could help with logistics and brand visibility.
– Mark Walter, who led Slate’s Series C round, also owns a significant stake in Carvana, and Carvana may have disclosed the Slate tie-up as a warrant to a “private consumer products company” in a March 2025 filing.
Carvana has quietly secured the option to invest in Slate Auto, an electric vehicle startup backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, newly filed corporate records reveal. The online used car retailer received a warrant to purchase shares in the startup during 2025, a period when Slate Auto was assembling its massive $650 million Series C funding round, according to documents filed with Delaware’s division of corporations.
It remains unclear whether Carvana has exercised that warrant or how many shares it may acquire. The company declined to comment on the arrangement, and Slate Auto did not respond to requests for clarification.
This development arrives as Carvana explores a major strategic pivot into new car sales. The Wall Street Journal has reported that the retailer has already purchased multiple Stellantis dealerships across the United States. When questioned about this direction on a recent earnings call, CEO Ernie Garcia III cryptically told analysts to “stay tuned.”
For its part, Slate Auto is nearing a critical milestone. The startup is just weeks away from announcing final pricing and accepting the first non-refundable preorders for its low-cost electric vehicle, which is expected to start in the mid-$20,000 range. Slate has promised to deliver its first vehicles by the end of this year.
Like Tesla and Rivian, Slate states on its website that it “won’t have traditional dealerships,” planning instead to sell directly to customers. However, the company has offered few specifics about how it will manage the logistics of the car buying experience. Selling through physical Carvana dealerships could help resolve some of those logistical challenges while also boosting the startup’s public profile.
Slate has remained guarded about its investor base since emerging from stealth mode last year, shortly after TechCrunch first revealed that Bezos and Guggenheim Partners CEO Mark Walter were backing the company. In April, Slate disclosed that Walter’s firm TWG Global led the Series C round, making the businessman one of the startup’s largest shareholders.
Notably, Walter also holds a significant stake in Carvana. He owns 8% of the company’s Class B common stock and 1% of the overall voting power, making him the third-largest shareholder after Garcia III and his son, Ernie Garcia II.
It is possible that Carvana has already hinted at this tie-up with Slate in regulatory filings, without naming the startup directly. In March, Carvana disclosed in a filing that it had been granted a warrant to purchase shares of a “private consumer products company” in June 2025. The company did not identify the firm but noted the aggregate value of the warrant was $1.5 million at the end of 2025, and that it “vests in tranches through 2029 based on jointly determined performance goals.” Carvana added that Walter has a “substantial ownership interest in the warrant issuer.”
Carvana did not confirm whether this referred to Slate or another company in Walter’s portfolio.
(Source: TechCrunch)
