Carvana ties up with Bezos-backed Slate Auto as it plans new car sales

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

Paperwork filed with Delaware’s division of corporations shows that the online used car retailer was given a warrant to buy shares in the startup in 2025 — around the same time Slate Auto was starting to put together its $650 million Series C funding round.

It’s not clear if Carvana has exercised that warrant, or how many shares it is allowed to buy. Carvana declined to comment, and Slate Auto didn’t respond to requests for comment on the deal.

The transaction with Carvana comes as the retailer is looking at 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. Asked about new car 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 nonrefundable preorders for its low-cost EV, which is expected to start in the mid-$20,000 range. Slate has said it will deliver its first vehicles by the end of this year.

Similar to Tesla and other all-electric car companies like Rivian, Slate says on its website that it “won’t have traditional dealerships.” The company has said it will sell vehicles directly to customers, but it hasn’t offered much detail about how it plans to handle the logistics of the car-buying experience. Selling through physical Carvana dealerships could help mitigate some of those logistics headaches while also raising the startup’s profile.

Slate has been tight-lipped about its investors since it emerged 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 firm TWG Global led the Series C round, making the businessman one of the startup’s largest shareholders.

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

It’s possible Carvana has already revealed some details about the Slate tie-up to investors without naming the startup.

In March, Carvana revealed in a regulatory filing that it had been granted a warrant to purchase shares of a “private consumer products company” in June 2025. Carvana did not name the company but said 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 noted that Walter has a “substantial ownership interest in the warrant issuer.”

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