WeRide Debut Is A Test Drive For A Slow IPO Market 

In recent months, the tech IPO market has been stuck in what seems to be the slowest gear imaginable. Action will pick up in coming days, however, with the expected Nasdaq debut of Chinese autonomous driving startup WeRide.

The Guangzhou-based company is seeking to raise $120 million in an offering that would reportedly set an initial valuation of up to $5 billion. It also plans to raise around $320 million in a concurrent private investment.

As startup IPOs go, WeRide’s financials aren’t anything we haven’t seen before. Like most venture-backed companies targeting the public market, it is far from profitable. Last year, it posted revenue of $55 million and a net loss of $69 million.

However, also like most startups going public, 7-year-old WeRide is banking more on enthusiasm for its technology and growth prospects than its income statements. The company touts itself as the “first autonomous driving company in the world with products operating and testing in 30 cities across seven countries.”

WeRide is best known for its robotaxi services, which began operating in 2019. But it has also launched a driverless robobus service, autonomous delivery vans and a “robosweeper” for cleaning city streets.

The imminent IPO comes amid a bit of a boom period for investment in autonomous driving technologies. Companies in the space raised at least $3.5 billion in the first half of this year, with activity picking up significantly in the past three months.

The biggest recent round went to London-based self-driving car startup Wayve, which raised $1.05 billion in a May SoftBank-led round. Other large funding recipients include Cruise, which secured another $850 million from General Motors, and Toronto-based autonomous trucking developer Waabi, which picked up $200 million in a round co-led by Khosla Ventures and Uber.

Notably, while hot startups in the autonomous driving space continue to score significant rounds, companies in the sector that went public a few years ago mostly continue to struggle.

When we reported on the space in late 2022, the broad takeaway was that markets had not been kind to autonomous driving companies. We rechecked the numbers this week, and found that most companies on the list are trading below those late 2022 levels. Some are no longer around, including Embark Technology, an autonomous trucking startup that once had a $5 billion market cap.

That said, WeRide’s pitch is a unique one, and a functioning robotaxi service, in particular, should hold appeal to public investors.

So far, certainly private investors have been on board. To fund operations till now, the company has raised at least $1.1 billion in known equity funding. Its investor list is also lengthy, and includes Quiming Venture Partners, which holds an 8.5% stake.

For those on the IPO sidelines, meanwhile, a successful debut for WeRide could go a long way to help re-invigorate the market. Perhaps it’ll be enough to kick the pace of new offerings into a higher gear.

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Illustration: Dom Guzman