Self-driving startup Momenta raising funding at $6B valuation

Momenta, one of China’s leading driverless technology startups, is raising fresh capital that could value the company at around $6 billion, according to people familiar with the talks. The number isn’t final and could shift as discussions progress, one of the people told CNBC. Bloomberg first reported the deal, noting the valuation was expected to top $5 billion.

This would mark another leap forward for a company TechStartups first covered back in 2018, when Momenta raised funding at over a $1 billion valuation, making it China’s first autonomous driving unicorn at the time. That round drew support from NIO Capital, Pagoda Investment, Tencent, and government-backed funds in Shanghai and Suzhou, among others.

The startup’s early team included world-class researchers behind breakthroughs like Faster R-CNN and ResNet, as well as winners of global AI competitions such as ImageNet and MS COCO. From the beginning, Momenta positioned itself as the “brain” of self-driving cars — a Tier 2 software provider building algorithms for perception, HD semantic mapping, and data-driven planning.

Momenta: From China’s First Self-Driving Unicorn to a $6B Valuation

Fast forward to today, and Momenta’s strategy of embedding its technology into automakers’ systems is paying off. This week, the Beijing-based company announced a deal with Mercedes-Benz to equip its driver assistance systems in the new all-electric CLA in China. The technology will cover highways, city streets, and parking, and will eventually expand to 40 models, according to a person familiar with the agreement. In June, BMW also signed on to use Momenta’s software in its upcoming Neue Klasse EV lineup in China, CNBC reported.

The startup, backed by Tencent, Temasek, Toyota, SAIC Motor, Mercedes-Benz, and Jack Ma’s Yunfeng Capital, is now targeting several hundred million dollars in this latest funding round, though the final raise could exceed that target depending on investor appetite.

Competition in the sector is fierce. Momenta goes up against players like WeRide, Pony.ai, Nvidia, and Horizon Robotics. But securing partnerships with global automakers gives the company a clear edge in the crowded autonomous driving software market.

An IPO could be the next milestone. Reuters reported on Friday that Momenta is weighing a shift from New York to Hong Kong for its public listing, underscoring the changing dynamics Chinese startups face in overseas markets.

If this new round closes at the projected $6 billion valuation, it would represent a dramatic rise from the $1 billion milestone that first put Momenta on the map seven years ago. From an ambitious computer vision team to a key partner for global automakers, Momenta’s climb highlights both the promise and pressure of the race toward autonomy.

Momenta Team