Final drive obtained an oversubscribed PIPE (private investment in public equity) of $113 million before its public debutwhich is expected for the first half of 2026.
The Swedish startup is best known for building electric trucks and autonomous pods designed to transport goods without room for a human driver. Einride announced plans to go public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, Legato Merger Corp., last November.
The deal values Einride at a pre-money valuation of $1.35 billion, down from the $1.8 billion figure initially attached to the SPAC deal. Despite a drop in valuation, investor appetite for the company remains evident. The PIPE exceeded the company’s initial goal 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 obtained approximately $213 million related to this transaction, including $100 million previously announced cross-financing.
The SPAC, which will see Einride trade on the New York Stock Exchange, was expected to provide around $220 million from Legato’s trust account. With the addition of the $113 million PIPE, the companies now expect total gross proceeds of approximately $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 autonomous deployments in North America, Europe and the Middle East.
Outside of Sweden, Einride operates a fleet of 200 heavy-duty electric trucks in Europe, North America and the UAE for companies including Heineken, PepsiCo, Carlsberg Sweden and DP World. The company has also made limited deployments of its autonomous pod-style trucks to customers including Apotea in Sweden and GE Appliances in the United States.
Einride is not the first autonomous vehicle company to pursue a SPAC merger in recent years to secure additional financing. Aurora Innovation went public via a SPAC merger valued at $13 billion in 2021 and has since launched a commercial autonomous truck operation (with a human observer on board). Kodiak AI also took the SPAC route to the public market in 2025.
Rebecca Bellan is a senior reporter at TechCrunch where she covers the business, policy and emerging trends shaping artificial intelligence. His work has also appeared in Forbes, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast and other publications.
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