Einride Plans $1.8 Billion SPAC Merger to Accelerate Autonomous EV Trucking Expansion

Self-driving trucks startup Einride plans to go public via a SPAC | TechCrunch

Einride said Wednesday it plans to go public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, just six weeks after the Swedish electric and autonomous truck startup raised $100 million from investors. The SPAC merger with Legato Merger Corp. values Einride at $1.8 billion in pre-money equity, according to the companies. The deal is expected to generate about $219 million in gross proceeds, a figure that doesn't take into account any redemption of Legato's public shares. The company is also seeking up to $100 million in private investment in public equity (PIPE) capital. The merger is expected to close in the first half of 2026, with Einride making its debut on the New York Stock Exchange. Einride was founded in 2016 with an ambition to transform the freight industry, first with electric trucks, then with autonomous electric autonomous pods -- vehicles that lack a steering wheel or pedals designed for self-driving. The company, which hired Roozbeh Charli as its new CEO earlier this year, has been trying to scale three business lines: electric big rigs, autonomous pod-like trucks that navigate fixed routes, and planning software designed for shippers. Einride has had some success in expanding beyond Sweden. It operates a fleet of 200 heavy-duty electric trucks in Europe, North America, and the UAE, for companies like Heineken, PepsiCo, Carlsberg Sweden, and DP World. The company has made some inroads with its autonomous pod-like trucks with customers including Apotea in Sweden and GE Appliances in the United States. Einride, which also has a U.S. headquarters in Austin, Texas, revealed in its announcement that it has a current annual recurring revenue (ARR) run rate of about $45 million and a total contracted base of $65 million ARR from signed customer contracts. The company's $100 million raise, which was announced in October, was meant to help the company scale with its customer base and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous freight technology, Charli said at the time. Einride previously raised $500 million in 2022 in a Series C round of equity and debt. The equity-based $200 million portion came from backers including Northzone, EQT Ventures, Temasek, Swedish pension fund AMF, Polar Structure, and Norrsken VC. It also secured $300 million in debt funding led by Barclays Europe. The $100 million raise in October included existing investor EQT Ventures and quantum computing company IonQ. Einride joins other autonomous vehicle companies that have pursued SPAC mergers in recent years to secure additional funding. Aurora, which launched a commercial self-driving trucks operation (with a human observer on board), went public via a SPAC merger valued at $13 billion in 2021. Self-driving trucks startup Kodiak AI took the SPAC road to the public market earlier this year.

Autonomous EV trucking company Einride going public in SPAC deal valuing it at $1.8 billion

The Einride EV freight truck charging station in Lynwood, California, built by Voltera and located close to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Autonomous EV freight trucking company Einride is planning to go public on the New York Stock Exchange through a SPAC deal with Legato Merger Corp. III, a blank check company, valuing it at $1.8 billion. The deal is expected to raise $219 million in gross proceeds, with up to an additional $100 million in PIPE capital from institutional investors, with Einride to begin trading during the first half of 2026. In announcing its plans, the Stockholm, Sweden-based company reported a contracted annual recurring revenue base of $65 million and over $800 million in potential long-term ARR. Founded in 2016, Einride has over 25 customers across seven countries, and regulatory permits in the United States and Europe. Its current fleet of approximately 200 electric vehicles is used by customers including GE Appliances and Swedish online pharmacy company Apotea. "Today marks a defining moment for Einride and for the future of freight technology," said Roozbeh Charli, CEO of Einride, in a release. "We've proven the technology, built trust with global customers, and shown that autonomous and electric operations are not just possible, but better. This transaction positions us to accelerate our global expansion and continue to deliver with speed and precision for our customers," said Charli, who took over the CEO post from co-founder and previous CEO Robert Falck last May. Einride has made the CNBC Disruptor 50 list for three consecutive years, ranking No. 24 in 2025. Freight trucking in the U.S. and elsewhere, estimated by Einride at a $4.6 trillion market, is both carbon-intensive and inefficient. Einride's technology is designed to reduce emissions at scale and prove electric freight is viable both technologically and economically. PepsiCo is among the companies that has been piloted use of Einride freight solutions, in markets including Memphis, Tennessee, and in Germany. Heineken added EV freight routes between the Netherlands and Germany in 2024, and to Austria this year. Einride also has plans to deploy 300 electric trucks across Europe by 2030 with Mars. To date, Einride provides freight services for both driver-operated electric trucks and heavy-duty autonomous EV trucks. Its technology can be licensed to third parties, both operational planning AI software and its autonomous driving system. In May of last year, Einride signed a deal with DP World to deploy the largest autonomous EV fleet in the Middle East, at the major UAE port, Jebel Ali, one of the world's largest shipping points. While many of its deals to date are for EV and not autonomous technology, in the U.S. it marked a year of autonomous operations with GE Appliances in 2024, and began autonomous freight shipments with Swedish online pharmacy company Apotea, Europe's first daily autonomous freight trips. The U.S. is the company's second-largest market and it plans to continue to invest in the country to accelerate deployment of its autonomous systems. In all, Einride reports over 1,700 driverless hours in contracted customer operations, over 11 million electric miles driven, and over 350,000 executed shipments. "This transaction with Einride aligns with our vision to bring industry-leading, innovative technology to the public markets," said Eric Rosenfeld, chief SPAC officer of Legato, in the release. "Einride's proven customer relationships, regulatory achievements, and technology platform position the Company to be a leader in the transformation of the freight industry." It competes with autonomous trucking companies including Aurora Innovation and fellow Disruptor Waabi, which recently hired Uber Freight CEO and founder Lior Ron as its chief operating officer. According to data from Matthew Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider of pre-IPO research and IPO-focused ETFs, Legato Merger III raised $175 million in its February 2024 IPO ($201 million including a deal overallotment). The management term's prior two SPACs produced Algoma Steel, a Canada-based steel producer that closed its merger with Legato I in October 2021, and Southland Holdings, an engineering and construction company that completed its merger with Legato II in Feb 2023. Both stocks are currently trading below their $10 transaction price. "This is not unusual for a de-SPAC, but it does highlight the general risk of holding into the merger that we've seen," Kennedy said. The SPAC market is booming this year, raising nearly 200% more proceeds than this point last year, according to Renaissance Capital data. It is the third-biggest year ever for SPACs, behind 2020 and 2021, measured in deal flow and proceeds, with Kennedy citing an acceleration in retail trading in tech companies, "which are the wheelhouse of SPAC merger activity," he said. Transportation technology, in particular, has been a focus for SPAC mergers, including autonomous driving and electrification. Kennedy noted SPACs in the space have mixed track record, with winners including Joby Aviation and Quantumscape, but a significant number of losers including Nikola, Vinfast, Lilium, Vertical Aerospace, Faraday Future, Volta, Polestar, Lucid, Aeye, and Canoo.