Einride shares doubled then settled to a 90% gain on its first day. The autonomous trucking company's $92M ARR and Amazon partnership support its case against stiff competition from Aurora and Kodiak.
Einride shares more than doubled in early trading Wednesday before settling to a 90% gain, marking a volatile public debut for the autonomous freight trucking company. The Nasdaq briefly halted trading under its limit up-limit down circuit breaker as the stock surged.
The company completed its SPAC merger with Legato Merger Corp. III at a pre-equity value of $1.35 billion, down from the $1.8 billion valuation set when the deal was announced last November. The merger raised over $200 million in gross proceeds, including $113 million in PIPE capital from institutional investors. Stockholm-based EQT Ventures participated.
Founded in 2016, Einride builds cab-less autonomous electric trucks and operates a freight service with driver-operated EVs. It also licenses its Saga AI software and autonomous driving system. "In the majority of freight trucking use cases in the future, electric and autonomous is going to be the cheapest option," CEO Roozbeh Charli told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday. He said the company's 200 electric trucks are already operating at a cost benefit and customer deployments are profitable.
Einride has over 30 enterprise customers across seven countries, with roughly $92 million in expected annual recurring revenue from signed contracts and over $800 million in potential long-term ARR through joint business plans. Customers include GE Appliances, Swedish online pharmacy Apotea, and PepsiCo, which piloted Einride freight solutions in Germany and Memphis, Tennessee. Heineken added EV freight routes between the Netherlands and Germany in 2024, and to Austria. Einride plans to deploy 300 electric trucks across Europe by 2030 with Mars.
Charli said autonomous freight trucking will scale rapidly starting this year, with companies converging on Texas. The state's light regulatory touch and massive freight volume across the Sun Belt attract operators. Einride competes with Aurora Innovation, Kodiak AI, and Waabi. Aurora runs freight routes between Dallas and Houston and recently started a 1,000-mile route between Fort Worth and Phoenix. Kodiak expects driverless semis on long-haul routes in the second half of this year. Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary McLane plans to deploy Aurora's technology on Texas routes by year-end. "The more competition on the OEM market, the better for us," Charli said, referring to truck manufacturers' investments in autonomous tech.
Einride is also deploying 75 electric heavy-duty trucks in Amazon's Relay freight network, supporting the e-commerce giant's middle-mile logistics between fulfillment centers and delivery stations. The EVs are projected to drive up to three million electric transport miles annually with zero-tailpipe emissions. Einride's Saga AI software will manage EV execution of select Amazon loads, including charging planning.
The SPAC market had its third-biggest year in 2025 behind 2020 and 2021, according to Renaissance Capital data, for deal flow and proceeds. Performance for transportation technology SPACs has been mixed. A planned merger between Plus.AI and Churchill Capital Corp IX was scrapped in April, citing market conditions. Winners like Joby Aviation and QuantumScape have seen their shares under pressure this year. Losers include EV trucking companies Nikola and Volta, plus consumer EV makers Vinfast, Faraday Future, Polestar, Lucid, and Canoo.
Einride was named to the CNBC Disruptor 50 list three times, most recently in 2025.
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