Chinese robotaxi start-up WeRide files for a $119 million IPO on Nasdaq

Under the offering, the Guangzhou-based company will offer 6.5 million American depositary shares at a price range of $15.5 to $18.5 each, raising up to $119.4 million. It also plans to raise approximately $320.5 million in a concurrent private placement.

The autonomous driving startup said in August that it would seek a valuation of up to $5.02 billion in its IPO, at a time when the Biden administration was expected to propose using Chinese software in autonomous vehicles Ban vehicles in the United States.

The company received approval from China’s securities regulator last year to list in the United States.

It was founded in Silicon Valley in 2017 and later incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Then in 2019, the company launched a robotaxi service in Guangzhou, China.

Investors were eagerly awaiting WeRide’s potential listing and looking for signs of a pick-up in Chinese IPOs in the US.