Driverless tech startup Momenta seeks to raise $1bn in Hong Kong IPO

(Sharecast News) - Autonomous driving group Momenta is moving closer to a Hong Kong listing after an approval process to go public in New York expired, with its latest valuation thought to be around $9bn.

Momenta, whose investors and partners include auto giants General Motors, Hyundai, Toyota and SAIC Motor, is planning to offer nearly 44m shares in a Hong Kong initial public offering, according to a regulatory filing with the China Securities Regulatory Commission last week.

The CSRC in 2024 had approved an IPO in the US - a necessary requirement for Chinese companies wanting to list overseas - though this failed to materialise.

According to the latest reports, the securities regulator has approved a proposed share sale, which is expected to raise around $1bn.

Momenta, which already has deals with Uber and Mercedes-Benz in the robotaxi space, sells autonomous driving technologies, which perceive "object properties, causal motion and potential interactions, enabling physically aware prediction and planning".

"It goes beyond language constraints, unlocking stronger negotiation, smarter lane selection, and agile manoeuvring in complex spaces," the company says.

Momenta says its solutions have the potential to save 1m lives over the next 10 years by drastically cutting road traffic accidents, while reducing the time spent by customers being stuck in traffic, estimated to be 60 to 100 minutes every day on average in urban areas.