Self-driving truck startup Einride has raised $113 million before going public for the first time

Einride has secured a $113 million oversubscription (private public equity investment) ahead of its debut public offering, which is expected to take place in the first half of 2026.

The Swedish startup is best known for building electric trucks and self-driving pods designed to transport goods without room for a human driver. Einride announced its plans to go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, Legato Merger Corp., last November.

The deal values ​​Einride at a pre-cash valuation of $1.35 billion — down from the $1.8 billion figure initially associated with the SPAC deal. Despite the lower valuation, there is still clear investor appetite for the company. The PIPE exceeded the company’s previous target of $100 million.

Einride’s PIPE comes from new and existing investors, including a global asset management firm based on the US West Coast and Stockholm-based EQT Ventures.

In total, Einride received approximately US$213 million associated with this transaction, including US$100 million in previously announced cross-funding.

The SPAC, which will see Einride trade on the New York Stock Exchange, was expected to hand over approximately $220 million from Legato’s trust account. With the addition of a $113 million PIPE, the companies now expect total gross proceeds of about $333 million before redemptions and expenses, although they say they may seek additional capital before closing.

Proceeds will support Einride’s technology roadmap, global expansion and standalone deployments in North America, Europe and the Middle East.

Outside Sweden, Einride operates a fleet of 200 heavy electric trucks in Europe, North America and the UAE for companies such as Heineken, PepsiCo, Carlsberg Switzerland and DP World. The company has also done limited deployments of its self-driving trucks with customers, including Apotea in Sweden and GE Appliances in the US.

Einride is not the first self-driving car company to seek a SPAC merger in recent years for additional financing. Aurora Innovation went public via a $13 billion SPAC merger in 2021, and has since launched a commercial operation of self-driving trucks (with a human spotter on board). Kodiak AI also took the SPAC route to the public market in 2025.