Autonomous trucking startup Kodiak Robotics to go public in a $2.5 billion SPAC merger deal

After a quiet stretch, SPAC deals are starting to trickle back. On Monday, Kodiak Robotics said it’s merging with Ares Acquisition Corp II in a deal that values the autonomous trucking startup at $2.5 billion.

The newly formed company will be called Kodiak AI. Once the deal closes, it’s expected to bring in about $551 million from Ares Acquisition’s trust account. That’s in addition to $110 million in fresh backing from big names like Soros Fund Management, ARK Investments, and Ares Management.

“The combined entity, which will be called Kodiak AI, would also receive about $551 million of cash held in Ares Acquisition’s trust account upon closing,” Reuters reported.

SPACs (short for special purpose acquisition companies) are shell companies that go public with one goal: to merge with a real business. Once that happens, the private company takes over the SPAC’s public listing.

So far in 2025, SPACs are behind 23 of the 42 IPOs in the U.S., according to SPACAnalytics.com. Still, investors aren’t celebrating just yet — the De-SPAC Index, which tracks the performance of these post-merger companies, is down more than 50% this year.

Founded in 2018 by Don Burnette, an earlier founder of the self-driving truck company Otto, and Paz Eshel, a former venture capitalist, Kodiak develops autonomous driving tech for long-haul trucks. Before Kodiak, Burnette previously co-founded Otto, Uber’s short-lived autonomous truck unit, and Paz Eshel was a former VC.

Kodiak Founders

The company operates in the Permian Basin, generating steady revenue by hauling freight for U.S. clients. It’s already made a name for itself as one of the more serious contenders in the self-driving truck space. The startup is backed by Battery Ventures, CRV, Lightspeed Ventures, and Tusk Ventures.

Kodiak hit a milestone earlier this year when it delivered its first “RoboTrucks” to Atlas Energy Solutions. Atlas placed an initial order for 100 trucks, signaling a growing demand for autonomous freight solutions in energy and logistics.

The company says its software has racked up more than 2.6 million miles on real roads.

Its pitch is simple: shipping needs are climbing, human drivers are harder to find, and companies want to move goods faster without breaking the bank. That creates a strong case for autonomy — especially in trucking.

Kodiak’s name may sound familiar to some of you. We covered them two years ago when they struck a deal to embed their software into 800 trucks for Loadsmith. They also locked in $50 million in contracts from the U.S. Department of Defense to build autonomous ground vehicles for the Army.

“Entering the public markets will … expand our existing partner relationships, provide our technology to a broader customer base, and deliver enhanced solutions across the commercial trucking and public sector industries,” said Burnette.

The deal is expected to wrap up in the second half of 2025. The combined company will trade under the ticker symbol “KDK,” though it hasn’t shared which exchange it plans to list on yet.

SPACs have gotten a mixed reputation lately, but Kodiak is clearly betting that the faster path to the public markets will help it scale in a logistics industry that’s hungry for innovation.