Carvana is teaming up with Bezos-backed Slate Auto as it plans to sell new cars

Carvana has been given the option to invest in Slate Auto, the electric vehicle startup backed by Jeff Bezos, according to documents obtained by TechCrunch.

Papers filed with the Delaware Division of Corporations show that the online used car retailer obtained a warrant to buy shares in the startup in 2025 — around the same time that Slate Auto began raising a $650 million Series C funding round.

It is not clear whether Carvana has exercised this, or how many shares it is permitted to purchase. Carvana declined to comment, and Slate Auto did not respond to requests for comment on the deal.

The deal with Carvana comes as the retailer looks for ways to expand into new car sales, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company has reportedly purchased a number of Stellantis dealerships across the United States. When asked about new vehicle sales on a recent earnings call, CEO Ernie Garcia III told analysts to “stay tuned.”

Slate Auto is also just weeks away from announcing final pricing and taking the first non-refundable pre-orders for its low-cost electric vehicle, which is expected to start in the mid-$20,000 range. Slate said it will deliver its first cars by the end of this year.

Like Tesla and other all-electric car companies like Rivian, Slate says on its website that it “will not have traditional dealers.” The company said it would sell the vehicles directly to customers, but did not provide many details about how it plans to handle the logistics of the car-buying experience. Selling through brick-and-mortar Carvana dealers can help alleviate some of these logistical headaches while also raising the profile of the startup.

Slate has been silent about its investors since emerging from stealth last year, shortly after TechCrunch first revealed that Bezos and Guggenheim Partners CEO Mark Walter were backing the company. Slate revealed in April that Walter’s company TWG Global led the Series C round, making the entrepreneur one of the startup’s largest shareholders.

Walter also owns a significant stake in Carvana. He owns 8% of the company’s Class B common stock and 1% of the total voting power. Only Garcia III and his son Ernie Garcia II had more control.

Carvana has likely already revealed some details about Slate’s connection to investors without naming the startup.

In March, Carvana disclosed in a regulatory filing that it had obtained a warrant to purchase shares of a “private consumer products company” in June 2025. Carvana did not name the company but said the total value of the warrant was $1.5 million at the end of 2025 and that it “vested in tranches through 2029 based on jointly determined performance goals.” Carvana noted that Walter has a “significant ownership stake in the issuer.”

Carvana did not say whether this was a reference to Slate or another company in Walter’s portfolio.