The tech IPO market has been stuck in the slowest gear conceivable in recent months. But it would pick up speed in the coming days as expected Nasdaq Chinese autonomous driving startup debuts We are driving.
The Guangzhou-based company is in search of to lift $120 million in an offering that reportedly would set initial valuation as much as $5 billion. It also plans to lift about $320 million in a parallel private investment.
As far as startup IPOs go, WeRide’s funds are nothing latest. Like most venture-backed firms that concentrate on the public market, it’s far from profitable. Last 12 months, it reported revenue of $55 million and a net lack of $69 million.
But like most startups going public, 7-year-old WeRide is banking more on enthusiasm for its technology and growth prospects than on its profit and loss statements. The company bills itself as “the world’s first self-driving company with products operating and being tested in 30 cities across seven countries.”
WeRide is best known for its robotaxi service, which began operations in 2019. The company has also launched driverless robobuses, autonomous delivery vans and “robo sweepers” to scrub city streets.
The upcoming IPO comes amid a boom in investment in self-driving technology, with firms in the space raising at least $3.5 billion in the first half of this 12 months and activity picking up significantly in the past three months.
London-based autonomous automobile startup receives largest recent round of funding Waywhich raised $1.05 billion in May SoftBank-led round. Other large recipients of financing include: Cruisewhich provided one other $850 million General Motorsand Toronto-based developer of autonomous truck solutions Guaranteewhich raised $200 million in a round co-led by Khosla’s ventures AND Uber.
It’s price noting that while high-profile autonomous driving startups proceed to win significant rounds, most of the self-driving startups that went public a few years ago are still struggling.
When we reported on this space in late 2022, the general conclusion was that markets had not been kind to autonomous driving firms. We re-ran the numbers this week and found that almost all of the firms on the list are trading below their late 2022 levels. Some of them are not around, including Boarding Technologya self-driving truck startup that once had a market capitalization of $5 billion.
Nevertheless, WeRide’s idea is unique and the operating robotaxi service should interest public investors.
So far, private investors have actually been on board. To fund operations thus far, the company has raised at least $1.1 billion in known equity funding. Its investor list is also long and includes: Venture Quiming Partnerswhich holds 8.5% of the shares.
Meanwhile, for those on the sidelines of IPOs, WeRide’s successful debut could go a great distance toward reviving the market. Perhaps enough to speed up the pace of latest listings.