China’s Momenta approved for Hong Kong IPO after US setback
Sustaining Momenta’s ambitious autonomy strategy will require the kind of capital that only a public listing provides. By Stewart Burnett
China’s securities regulator (CRSC) has approved autonomous driving firm Momenta’s bid to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, clearing the most significant regulatory hurdle ahead of an initial public offering (IPO) that is expected to raise upwards of US$1bn. The CSRC filing notice allows Momenta to issue up to 43.75 million shares; the company must complete the listing within 12 months or update its materials.
The Hong Kong pivot follows the lapse of a US IPO application that Momenta filed confidentially in 2024. Rising geopolitical friction between Washington and Beijing has led to tightening scrutiny of Chinese technology listings in the US and triggered a deeper shift wherein the same firms redirect their ambitions to raise international capital towards Hong Kong.
Momenta is far from the first player in this industry to attempt such a move: within a matter of days of each other, Pony.ai and WeRide completed dual primary listings in New York and Hong Kong in late 2025. The two companies were subsequently included in the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect the following June. LiDAR manufacturer Hesai also listed in Hong Kong last year, raising US$531m in the process—in no small part due to tensions surrounding its Nasdaq listing and inclusion on a Pentagon blacklist of companies with purported ties to the Chinese military.
Momenta’s investor base is arguably among the most internationally credible of any Chinese autonomy company. General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, SAIC and Tencent are all strategic backers; Grab invested in December 2025 to anchor Momenta’s Southeast Asian ambitions; and Uber holds a robotaxi partnership signed in May 2025. Mercedes-Benz was the first international automaker to invest in the company, in 2017, and the two have since co-launched a robotaxi fleet in Abu Dhabi using the S-Class sedan, with formal operations planned for 2026.
The breadth of that backing reflects Momenta’s dual business model: supplying mass-production ADAS systems to global automakers, including BMW and the Volkswagen Group, while simultaneously commercialising SAE Level 4 robotaxi technology. This approach is ambitious and far-reaching; it requires continuous amounts of capital to sustain at scale.
Hong Kong’s regulatory framework has been specifically updated to facilitate the wave of incoming Chinese smart technology firms. Chapter 18C of its listing rules enables pre-profit specialist technology companies—including autonomous driving and AI firms—to list without a conventional earnings track record, and the exchange has positioned itself aggressively as the destination for Chinese hard-tech capital raises. The streamlined overseas filing process means regulatory approval is now less of an obstacle than it was two years ago, and the Stock Connect inclusion achieved by Pony.ai and WeRide has, in turn, raised the ceiling on achievable valuations.
Momenta was valued at more than US$5bn in its most recent funding round. Whether the IPO achieves that implied valuation or exceeds it will depend on how public market investors assess its commercial progress relative to Pony.ai and WeRide, both of which now trade with a publicly observable price signal and are comparably more advanced in their robotaxi fleet deployments.
