PlusAI expects to close its merger with Texas Ventures Acquisition III Corp. by the end of the year, co-founder and CEO David Liu told FreightWaves. The deal, announced Sept. 3, values the autonomous trucking develoan $800 million pre-money equity value.
Financing and closing certainty
The transaction could bring PlusAI up to about $300 million. That total pairs more than $60 million in committed financing with a SPAC trust of about $236 million. Funds managed by Yorkville Advisors, the SPAC’s financial backer, made a significant share of the commitment alongside new and existing investors.
How much of the trust PlusAI keeps depends on redemptions at closing, Liu said. The committed money alone satisfies the deal’s minimum cash condition, deal announcement the two companies filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is also expected to fund PlusAI through 2027.
“In terms of certainty of this transaction, it has very, very high certainty of closing in the coming months.” — David Liu, co-founder and CEO of PlusAI
HyperFoundry revenue and market positioning
PlusAI’s HyperFoundry development platform has generated $25 million in revenue this year, filing. The company is targeting $40 million to $50 million in contracted revenue for 2026. Revenue should grow significantly in the second half, Liu said.
Liu said the $40 million to $50 million would come in at almost three times what Aurora books this year. Aurora reaffirmed full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $14 million to $16 million in July, a recognized-revenue figure. PlusAI’s filing frames its own number as contracted revenue.
HyperFoundry combines three pieces, Liu said: a data factory, a model factory and a simulation and verification environment called SimVerse. The company built them to develop its own virtual driver and now offers the platform to traditional engineering OEMs in adjacent industries.
“These traditional large engineering OEMs, they are all looking at, how do I make intelligence into my machine? And if PlusAI can do this for trucking, this could be the same thing for us.” — David Liu, co-founder and CEO of PlusAI
OEM distribution through TRATON
PlusAI runs daily commercial pilot runs in Texas with International and Ryder, Liu said. The company plans to add fleet customers to that program in the coming months.
“But now we’re beyond just technology viability. That’s been proven already by us, along with some other companies as well. And now the real question is how do you actually commercially scale the technology to a much broader set of customers,” Liu said.
His answer is OEM distribution. TRATON Group, whose brands include Scania, MAN, International and Volkswagen Truck & Bus, picked PlusAI to build autonomy into its trucks, and the two companies have worked together for years, Liu said. Ryder is among TRATON’s fleet customers, he said. Hyundai and IVECO are also partners, filing.
SuperDrive, PlusAI’s Level 4 driving system, will be deployed through its OEM partners’ existing manufacturing, sales and service channels, filing. The company plans to earn recurring revenue from it through a Driver-as-a-Service model.
“We are looking at launching driverless trucks commercially and starting to scale that in 2027.” — David Liu, co-founder and CEO of PlusAI
Source: FreightWaves
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
