Einride announced Wednesday that it plans to go public through a merger with a special acquisition vehicle, just six weeks after the Swedish electric and self-driving truck startup raised $100 million from investors. The combination of the SPAC and Legato Merger Corp. values Einride’s pre-money capital at $1.8 billion, the companies said.
The transaction is expected to generate gross proceeds of approximately $219 million, but this figure does not take into account the redemption of Legato’s public stock. The company is also seeking up to $100 million in private equity investment (PIPE) funding.
The merger is expected to close in the first half of 2026, and Einride plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange.
Einride was founded in 2016 with the ambition to transform the freight industry, first with electric trucks and then with autonomous electric autonomous pods, vehicles without steering wheels or pedals designed for self-driving. The company, which hired Roosbe Charli as its new CEO earlier this year, is expanding into three business areas: electric big rigs, autonomous pod trucks that drive fixed routes, and planning software designed for shippers.
Einride has had some success in expanding its operations beyond Sweden. The company operates a fleet of 200 heavy-duty electric trucks in Europe, North America and the UAE for companies such as Heineken, PepsiCo, Carlsberg Sweden and DP World. The company has made some inroads with autonomous pod trucks with customers such as Sweden’s Apotea and America’s GE Appliances.
Einride, also headquartered in Austin, Texas, disclosed in an announcement that its current annual recurring revenue (ARR) run rate is approximately $45 million, with a total contracted base of $65 million ARR from signed customer contracts.
The company’s $100 million raise, announced in October, was aimed at helping the company expand its customer base and accelerate the rollout of autonomous cargo transportation technology, Charli said at the time.
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Einride previously raised $500 million in an equity and debt Series C round in 2022. The $200 million equity portion was provided by backers including Northzone, EQT Ventures, Temasek, Swedish pension fund AMF, Polar Structure and Norsken VC. It also secured $300 million in debt funding led by Barclays Europe. Its $100 million raise in October included existing investors EQT Ventures and quantum computing company IonQ.
Einride joins other self-driving car companies that have pursued SPAC mergers in recent years to secure additional funding.
Aurora, which started its commercial self-driving truck business (with human observers on board), went public in 2021 through a SPAC merger valued at $13 billion. Self-driving truck startup Kodiak AI entered the public market via the SPAC route earlier this year.
