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Autonomous driving unicorn WeRide files for US IPO amid expansion plans

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Autonomous driving unicorn WeRide files for US IPO amid expansion plans

WeRide – a Cayman Islands holding company whose operations are mainly conducted by Guangzhou Wenyuan Zhixing Technology and its subsidiaries in mainland China – did not provide the amount of money it aims to raise from the Nasdaq listing, according to its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

The company, which had a US$5.1 billion valuation after its D+ funding round in 2022, said it was the only firm in its industry with autonomous driving permits in mainland China, the US, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore, according to its filing. At present, the company said it is conducting trials and commercial operations in 30 cities across seven countries.
Founded in 2017, WeRide said it was the only company to offer commercial L2 to L4 autonomous driving for cities. Most intelligent vehicles in China are classified as L2 or L2+, which stipulate that the driver must be alert and ready to take control at any time.
WeRide’s fleet of autonomous driving vehicles. Photo: Handout

WeRide, according to a Bloomberg report last March, planned to raise as much as US$500 million from its IPO, which would be the biggest US listing by a Chinese company since Beijing-based Didi – under the name Didi Global – raised US$4.4 billion when it went public in New York.

WeRide’s IPO bid shows a broader trend among Chinese autonomous driving start-ups to seek fresh funding from the capital markets in the US and Hong Kong, as the commercial roll-out of driverless vehicles gathers momentum in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Wuhan.
A WeRide robotaxi on the road. Photo: Handout

Still, most autonomous driving firms on the mainland are struggling to make a profit in the highly capital-intensive industry. This is also reflected in WeRide’s prospectus.

WeRide recorded a wider net loss of 1.9 billion yuan (US$262 million) in 2023, compared with a 1.3 billion yuan loss the previous year, as the company continued to pour huge resources on research and development. Revenue last year reached 401.8 million yuan, down 24 per cent from 2022.

WeRide said it generates revenue primarily from sales of its L4-capable vehicles as well as L4 autonomous driving and advanced driver assistance services. Company founder and chief executive Tony Han previously served as chief scientist at Baidu’s autonomous driving unit.

In its prospectus, the company also warned that it faced “various legal and operational risks and uncertainties associated with being based in or having our operations primarily in mainland China and the complex and evolving PRC laws and regulations”.

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