Chinese autonomous driving startup Momenta is accelerating toward a public listing, having secretly filed for a Hong Kong IPO after closing a new funding round of approximately $500 million. The move signals a significant step for the Toyota and Mercedes-Benz-backed company, bolstering its finances as it competes in the capital-intensive race to develop fully driverless vehicles.
"The auto industry needs to develop more advantages when confronting Tesla’s marketing today, so they are paying more attention to autonomous driving,” Momenta’s founder and CEO Cao Xudong told TechCrunch in a previous interview. He has emphasized a "flywheel" strategy where data from mass-produced vehicles continuously improves the company's algorithms.
The latest pre-IPO round included UAE-based Stone Venture, Gaorong Capital, and Gaocheng Capital, as reported by Sina. This follows a massive Series C round in 2021 that totaled $1 billion, with strategic investors including SAIC Motor, General Motors, Toyota, and Bosch. Momenta’s valuation was pegged at $6 billion following its most recent financing series in 2025, according to 36Kr.
The IPO filing solidifies Momenta’s position as one of the most well-funded autonomous driving startups globally, alongside rivals like Pony.ai, which was valued at $5.3 billion in late 2020. The immense capital required for large-scale testing and development makes access to public markets a critical milestone for achieving commercial viability and long-term profitability.
A ‘Flywheel’ Fueled by Auto Giants
Momenta's strategy hinges on a "two-legged" approach that balances long-term ambition with near-term revenue. The first leg, Mpilot, provides semi-automated driving software solutions to automakers for mass-produced vehicles. This not only generates revenue but also feeds the "flywheel," a data accumulation engine that uses real-world driving information to refine the algorithms for the second leg: MSD, or Momenta Self-Driving, the company's fully autonomous L4 technology.
This model has attracted a roster of top-tier automotive partners and investors. Strategic backers include some of the world's largest carmakers, such as Mercedes-Benz AG, Toyota, SAIC Motor, and General Motors, giving Momenta a crucial advantage in data acquisition and a clear path to integration.
The Path to Profitability
Despite the heavy investment, CEO Cao Xudong has stated that autonomous driving companies can "no longer rely solely on fundraising to burn cash." Momenta’s plan involves a phased commercialization. The company began rolling out its Mpilot software in customer vehicles in 2021.
It aims to remove safety drivers from some of its robotaxi test vehicles in 2022, with a goal to operate fully driverless vehicles profitably on a large scale by 2024. This timeline puts it in direct competition with other firms piloting robotaxi services, but its access to data from mass-market vehicles could provide a key edge in accelerating development and reducing costs.
Hong Kong Over New York
Momenta's decision to list in Hong Kong follows a broader trend of Chinese tech companies opting for listings closer to home. According to Reuters, the company had previously considered a U.S. IPO but let its approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission expire. The shift to Hong Kong is seen as a pragmatic choice to mitigate risks associated with ongoing U.S.-China geopolitical and technological tensions. A successful listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange would provide significant capital to fuel Momenta's "flywheel" and advance its dual-track strategy in the global autonomous driving race.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
