Electric vehicle startup Rivian and German automobile giant Volkswagen Group announced Tuesday a joint venture to develop EV software technologies, a potential $5 billion partnership that Rivian said will provide the company the capital it needs to grow and launch its planned Georgia factory.

The deal is a financial boost for Rivian, a company that has delivered award-winning high-performance EVs, but has struggled with supply chain issues and seen its cash pile shrink. The company has slashed costs and jobs as it works to reach profitability and boost its stock price.

In March, Rivian put on hold its plans for a $5 billion factory an hour east of Atlanta. Rivian has said it intends to honor its commitment to build the Georgia plant, but paused the project and announced plans to shift initial production of its new lower priced EV, the R2, to Illinois.

Volkswagen Group plans to invest an initial $1 billion in Rivian, taking an equity position in the startup and becoming one of the company’s largest investors. The planned partnership includes $4 billion in additional investments through 2026, according to a news release. The software technologies from the joint partnership are expected to be used in both companies’ future EVs.

Rivian CEO R.J. Scaringe reiterated Tuesday that he remains committed to building its Georgia factory as the company scales, and he said the joint venture with Volkswagen will help with that endeavor.

“This partnership does provide really a capital roadmap to not only secure and support the launch of R2 in Normal but also support the launch of that midsize platform in our Georgia facility and our path to positive free cash flow,” he said.

He went on to say that, “Knowing that we have a partner that’s not only interested in our success, because of the technical partnership, but also because of their equity ownership in us, is really helpful.”

Cox Enterprises, which owns The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, also owns about a 3% stake in Rivian.

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