Self-driving Trucks Startup Einride Plans To Go Public Via A Spac

Einride said Wednesday it plans to spell nationalist via a merger pinch a typical intent acquisition company, conscionable six weeks aft nan Swedish electrical and autonomous motortruck startup raised $100 cardinal from investors. The SPAC merger pinch Legato Merger Corp. values Einride astatine $1.8 cardinal successful pre-money equity, according to nan companies.

The woody is expected to make astir $219 cardinal successful gross proceeds, a fig that doesn’t return into relationship immoderate redemption of Legato’s nationalist shares. The institution is besides seeking up to $100 cardinal successful backstage finance successful nationalist equity (PIPE) capital.

The merger is expected to adjacent successful nan first half of 2026, pinch Einride making its debut connected nan New York Stock Exchange.

Einride was founded successful 2016 pinch an ambition to toggle shape nan freight industry, first pinch electrical trucks, past pinch autonomous electrical autonomous pods — vehicles that deficiency a steering instrumentality aliases pedals designed for self-driving. The company, which hired Roozbeh Charli arsenic its caller CEO earlier this year, has been trying to standard 3 business lines: electrical large rigs, autonomous pod-like trucks that navigate fixed routes, and readying package designed for shippers.

Einride has had immoderate occurrence successful expanding beyond Sweden. It operates a fleet of 200 heavy-duty electrical trucks successful Europe, North America, and nan UAE, for companies for illustration Heineken, PepsiCo, Carlsberg Sweden, and DP World. The institution has made immoderate inroads pinch its autonomous pod-like trucks pinch customers including Apotea successful Sweden and GE Appliances successful nan United States.

Einride, which besides has a U.S. office successful Austin, Texas, revealed successful its announcement that it has a existent yearly recurring gross (ARR) tally complaint of astir $45 cardinal and a full contracted guidelines of $65 cardinal ARR from signed customer contracts.

The company’s $100 cardinal raise, which was announced successful October, was meant to thief nan institution standard pinch its customer guidelines and accelerate nan deployment of its autonomous freight technology, Charli said astatine nan time.

Einride previously raised $500 million in 2022 successful a Series C information of equity and debt. The equity-based $200 cardinal information came from backers including Northzone, EQT Ventures, Temasek, Swedish pension money AMF, Polar Structure, and Norrsken VC. It besides secured $300 cardinal successful indebtedness backing led by Barclays Europe. The $100 cardinal raise successful October included existing investor EQT Ventures and quantum computing institution IonQ.

Einride joins different autonomous conveyance companies that person pursued SPAC mergers successful caller years to unafraid further funding.

Aurora, which launched a commercialized self-driving trucks cognition (with a quality perceiver connected board), went public via a SPAC merger weighted astatine $13 cardinal successful 2021. Self-driving trucks startup Kodiak AI took nan SPAC road to nan nationalist marketplace earlier this year.