Einride targets US IPO, valuing over $5 billion

Swedish start-up Einride is in talks with banks for a potential initial public offering (IPO) in the United States later this year. The company aims for a valuation of over $5 billion as it enters the competitive market for self-driving trucks. Einride was founded in 2016 by Robert and Linnéa Falck. Their unique electric trucks began commercial operations in 2018. The company made headlines by deploying the first fully autonomous truck on public roads in 2019. Currently, Einride has revenue of $43 million with an order book estimated at $830 million. The company's upcoming IPO could raise at least $200 million to attract investor interest in autonomous technology and artificial intelligence. Einride's previous valuation was $1.1 billion but could rise to around $3 billion based on market demand for driverless trucks. Einride is also expanding its operations into the UAE, where it is set to begin one of the largest autonomous truck projects globally. This project will involve 200 autonomous and 100 manual trucks within a 550 km freight network. The global market for road freight is valued at $4.6 trillion and is seen as a key area for innovation due to issues like driver shortages and rising transport costs. Consulting firm McKinsey projects that the revenue from autonomous heavy-duty trucking could reach $616 billion by 2035. Einride has many of its customers and investors in the US, the company’s biggest market. Other players in this space include Aurora Innovation, which recently announced plans for a commercial deployment of driverless trucks in Texas. Einride did not provide comments on the IPO discussions.