On the evening of January 17, Hesai Technology officially submitted a prospectus to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), intending to be listed on NASDAQ in the United States. It is reported that Hesai Technology plans to raise 150 million US dollars, and the valuation may reach 3 billion US dollars.
The listing of Hesai Technology in the United States is expected to become "China's first LiDAR stock". At the same time, as the first Chinese company to initiate a listing in the United States, the success of Hesai Technology's listing will have vane significance.
According to public information, Hesai Technology is the global leader in autonomous driving and advanced assisted driving (ADAS) lidar. Hesai has excellent R&D capabilities and profound technical accumulation in the core fields of lidar such as optics, machinery, electronics, and software, and has hundreds of patents worldwide, and its self-developed chips, functional safety, active anti-interference and other technologies have broken many industry records. In 2022, Hesai Technology was selected as "2022 Forbes China Top 50 Innovative Enterprises".
In terms of financing, Hesai Technology has obtained more than 500 million US dollars in financing, with investors including Xiaomi, Meituan, Bosch, Baidu, Lightspeed, Hillhouse, Qiming and other institutions. In June 2021, Hesai Technology completed a series D financing of more than US$300 million, led by Hillhouse, Xiaomi, Meituan, etc. Huatai US Dollar Fund, as well as old shareholders Lightspeed China, Lightspeed Global, Qiming Venture Capital and other institutions also participated in the round of financing.
(List of partners displayed on Hesai's official website)
Hesai Technology was founded in Silicon Valley in the United States, and the three founders are all from technical backgrounds. Li Yifan, Chairman, General Manager and CEO, holds a bachelor's degree from Tsinghua University and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, specializing in the field of intelligent robotics; Chief scientist Kai Sun graduated from the Department of Mechanical and Electronics at Stanford University; Chief Technology Officer Xiang Shaoqing holds a double master's degree in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering from Stanford University, focusing on intelligent mechatronics. According to the prospectus, the three founders are currently acting in concert and are the actual controllers of the company. In addition, shareholders include Lightspeed Opportunity (established by Lightspeed Fund), Lightspeed China Partners (Lightspeed China Venture Capital Fund), Baidu, Bosch, Xiaomi and others.
At present, Hesai Technology is in the leading position in the industry in terms of product shipments, revenue scale and profit margin, which has also become the strength for its listing in the United States. On December 27, Hesai Technology announced that the company has shipped more than 103,000 lidars, and in 2022, it has shipped more than 80,400 lidars, leading the industry.
In terms of financial data, Hesai Technology's revenue in the first nine months of 2022 was RMB 793 million, an increase of 72.77% over the same period of the previous year; The net loss was RMB165 million, narrowing from RMB175 million in the same period of the previous year; the company's revenue in 2019, 2020 and 2021 was RMB348 million, RMB416 million and RMB720 million, respectively, accelerating revenue growth; For the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and the nine months ended September 30, 2022, the gross profit margin of Hesai Technology was 53.3% and 44%, respectively.
With the increasingly obvious development trend of automotive intelligence, lidar has become the standard for intelligent vehicles. In this context, start-ups such as Hesai Technology, Sagitar Juchuang, and Tudatong have emerged in China, while giants such as Huawei and DJI have also entered the track.
Different from other traditional automotive parts, domestic lidar manufacturers are not lagging behind in technology, but ahead of foreign veteran manufacturers in product mass production, of which Hesai Technology is a typical example. At the same time, in China, the acceptance of lidar by major car companies has also surpassed that of overseas car companies, making domestic lidar companies obtain a large number of fixed-point orders.
In contrast, the US lidar industry presents a different picture. For example, two old lidar star companies in the United States, Ibeo and Quanergy, have successively declared bankruptcy; This month, LiDAR public companies Velodyne and Ouster merged in an all-stock scheme to improve cash flow; At the same time, the market value of listed companies in the United States has generally plummeted.
In fact, Hesai Technology submitted a prospectus for the Science and Technology Innovation Board in early 2021, but only 2 months later, Hesai Technology voluntarily withdrew its listing application. The reason for this, the industry believes, on the one hand, is the continuous loss, on the other hand, the lawsuit with the US lidar manufacturer Velodyne.
Two years later, Hesai Technology's product sales and revenue have increased significantly, and it has achieved a leading position in the industry. At this time, the choice of US stock listing, although it still faces risks, is bound to promote its accelerated impact on overseas markets and also give investors an explanation.
The above content is from Forbes Chinese and Economic Observer
Reprinted by Chen Changjun of the Yangtze River Delta G60 Laser Alliance