Self-driving truck startup Einride raises $113M PIPE ahead of public debut

TechCrunch · Feb 26, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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Einride has secured an oversubscribed $113 million PIPE (private investment in public equity) ahead of its public debut, which is expected for the first half of 2026. The Swedish startup is most well-known for building both electric trucks and autonomous pods that are designed to carry freight with no room for a human driver. Einride announced its 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, there’s still clearly investor appetite for the firm. The PIPE exceeded the company’s earlier target of up to $100 million. Einride’s PIPE comes from new and existing investors, including a global asset management company based on the West Coast of the United States and Stockholm-based EQT Ventures. In total, Einride has secured around $213 million tied to this transaction, including $100 million previously announced crossover financing. The SPAC, which will see Einride trading on the New York Stock Exchange, had been expected to deliver roughly $220 million from Legato’s trust account. With the addition of the $113 million PIPE, the companies now project total gross proceeds of about $333 million before redemptions and expenses, though they say they may seek additional capital before closing. The 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 like Heineken, PepsiCo, Carlsberg Sweden, and DP World. The company has also done limited deployments of its autonomous pod-like trucks with customers, including Apotea in Sweden and GE Appliances in the U.S. Einride is not the first autonomous vehicle company to have pursued a SPAC merger in recent years for additional funding. Aurora Innovation went public via a SPAC merger valued at $13 billion in 2021 and has since launched a commercial self-driving trucks operation (with a human observer on board). Kodiak AI also took the SPAC road 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. Her work has also appeared in Forbes, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and other publications. You can contact or verify outreach from Rebecca by emailing rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at rebeccabellan.491 on Signal. View Bio