Momenta IPO seeks $752M in Hong Kong to fuel AI research and robotaxi expansion

Momenta IPO: self-driving firm seeks $752M in Hong Kong

GM-, Toyota- and Mercedes-backed Momenta has opened a Hong Kong IPO of up to $752mn, valuing the self-driving software firm at close to $9bn as it funds AI research and a robotaxi push. Momenta is heading to the public markets. The self-driving software firm has opened its Hong Kong IPO, seeking up to $752mn to pour into AI research and robotaxis. The Momenta IPO would value the GM-backed company at close to $9bn. The Suzhou-based company started taking investor orders this week under stock code 6880. It is selling about 19.9 million shares at HK$295.60 each, raising up to HK$5.9bn, or roughly $752mn, Reuters reported. At the top of the range, the float would value Momenta at nearly $9bn. It is one of the bigger tech listings to test Hong Kong's reviving IPO market this year. What Momenta does Momenta builds the software that lets cars drive themselves. It sells two things: mass-market driver-assist systems, and full self-driving for robotaxis. The first earns money today and helps fund the second. The customer list is striking. Momenta says it works with 24 leading carmakers, including Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Audi, BMW's China arm, Honda and SAIC. Its software now ships in 68 car models, up from eight in 2023. It claims deployments across eight of the world's ten biggest carmaking groups. Growing fast, still losing money The growth is real. Revenue rose 82% last year to RMB2.4bn, or about $337mn, after RMB1.3bn in 2024 and RMB743mn in 2023, its prospectus shows. Gross margin jumped to 71.6%. The losses are real too. Momenta lost RMB3.46bn in 2025, more than the year before. Most of that comes from accounting on its preferred shares, plus heavy research spending. The firm warns it may not turn a profit for the foreseeable future. The IPO is, in part, fuel to keep going. Who is backing it The share register reads like a who's who of the car industry. General Motors, China's SAIC, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz are all investors. Tencent and Singapore's Temasek are on board too, Bloomberg reported. Some are doubling down. Mercedes-Benz will return as a cornerstone investor in the float, the prospectus says. Reports add asset manager BlackRock and China's Boyu Capital to the cornerstone group. Founder Cao Xudong, who started Momenta in 2016, keeps control through dual-class shares. Where the money goes The plan for the cash is clear. About 60%, or HK$3.4bn, will go to core technology and research over five years. Around 20% will speed up the robotaxi rollout. The timeline is tight. Momenta expects to confirm share allocations by 7 July, with trading in its Class A shares due to start the next day. Into a crowded race Momenta is not arriving early. China already hosts the world's busiest robotaxi scene. Pony.ai and Baidu's Apollo Go run fully driverless rides in several cities, and WeRide is scaling up. Carmakers are piling in as well. XPeng has put a robotaxi-grade car into production. Tesla, by contrast, only launched its FSD system in China after years of delay. The fight for data and city permits is fierce. Momenta's own robotaxi work is early but ambitious. It won permits for unmanned rides in Shanghai in January, and it is building what it calls the world's first premium robotaxi with Mercedes-Benz and UAE taxi firm Lumo. It plans services in Abu Dhabi and Munich, with Uber and Grab as partners. For now, that business earns almost nothing. Why it matters The listing is a bet on where cars are heading. Chinese developers already lead on the scale of real-world driverless deployment. A fresh war chest lets Momenta keep pace as the robotaxi race speeds up. It is also a test for Hong Kong. After a thin few years, Chinese AI and chip firms are floating in the city again. Momenta's debut will show whether investors still want to fund the long, costly road to full autonomy, losses and all.

China's Momenta kicks off Hong Kong IPO, targets up to $751 million

June 29 (Reuters) - Chinese self-driving technology firm Momenta Global launched its Hong Kong initial public offering on Monday, seeking to raise up to HK$5.89 billion ($751.1 million), according to its prospectus. The launch confirms a Reuters report last week that Momenta planned to start the IPO this week and begin trading on July 8. The IPO comes as Chinese technology firms are returning to public markets, helped by investor demand for companies tied to AI, chips and automation. Beijing has also pushed home-grown technology as competition with the United States intensifies. China's Momenta is offering 19.9 million shares at HK$295.60 each, according to the exchange filing. It plans to use about 60% of the proceeds to boost research and development, including artificial intelligence computing power, data storage and its engineering team. It will use about 20% to speed up the rollout of its Robotaxi services. Cornerstone investors, or big investors that commit to buy shares before listing, include existing backer Mercedes-Benz, BlackRock funds and China's Boyu Capital, according to the prospectus. Other cornerstone investors include GIC, Fidelity International, Oaktree, Franklin Templeton and ChinaAMC. Founded in 2016 by former Microsoft researcher Cao Xudong, Momenta sells driving-assistance software to automakers. The systems help cars steer, brake, change lanes and park, but drivers still need to stay alert and ready to take control. The company said in the prospectus that vehicles using its software had topped 680,000 by the end of 2025. Its customers and partners include Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, SAIC, General Motors, BYD and Audi. Momenta posted a loss attributable to owners of 3.46 billion yuan ($508.97 million) in 2025, widening from 3.21 billion yuan a year earlier. Revenue rose 82.1% to 2.41 billion yuan. The company also plans to expand Robotaxi trials overseas. It says it is working with Uber and plans commercial Robotaxi services in Abu Dhabi and Munich this year, subject to approvals and partner rollout plans. Level 4 vehicles can drive themselves in defined areas and conditions with little or no human input. ($1 = 7.8418 Hong Kong dollars) ($1 = 6.7980 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Kumar Tanishk in Bengaluru and Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani, Chris Reese and Sherry Jacob-Phillips) By Kumar Tanishk and Yantoultra Ngui