Swedish autonomous trucking startup Einride just announced plans to go public through a SPAC merger, valuing the company at $1.8 billion - just six weeks after closing a $100 million funding round. The deal with Legato Merger Corp signals growing confidence in the autonomous freight market as traditional automakers scramble to catch up.
Einride broke the autonomous trucking industry's quiet period Wednesday with news that sent ripples through both the freight and public markets. The Swedish startup's announcement of a $1.8 billion SPAC merger comes at a pivotal moment - just as the self-driving truck sector is finally showing real commercial traction after years of promises.
The timing tells the whole story. Six weeks ago, Einride closed a $100 million funding round led by EQT Ventures, with quantum computing company IonQ joining existing backers. Now they're racing to the public markets through a merger with Legato Merger Corp, targeting a New York Stock Exchange debut in the first half of 2026.
"We've been preparing for this moment since we started scaling our customer operations," CEO Roozbeh Charli, who joined earlier this year, told TechCrunch. The numbers back up his confidence - Einride is running at a $45 million annual recurring revenue rate with $65 million in contracted business from signed customers.
What sets Einride apart isn't just the autonomous tech - it's the business model. The company operates three distinct revenue streams that position it as more than just another self-driving truck startup. Their fleet of 200 heavy-duty electric trucks already serves enterprise clients across Europe, North America, and the UAE, including household names like Heineken, PepsiCo, and Carlsberg.
But the real innovation lies in their autonomous pods - steering wheel-free vehicles designed for fixed routes that look more like freight-carrying robots than traditional trucks. These pods are already operating with customers including Swedish pharmacy chain Apotea and GE Appliances in the United States, proving the concept works beyond controlled test environments.
The SPAC structure will generate approximately $219 million in gross proceeds, with Einride also pursuing up to $100 million in private investment in public equity (PIPE) capital. That's a significant war chest for a company that's been methodically building its business since founder Robert Falck launched it in 2016 with the audacious goal of transforming freight transportation.
