Noi Mahoney
2 min read
Plus, an autonomous driving software provider, announced on Thursday it will become a publicly traded company through a merger with Churchill Capital Corp IX.
The combined company will operate as PlusAI.
“This transaction provides access to capital and strategic support that will help us advance our product roadmap, execute our development and commercialization strategy, and deliver a transformative logistics solution to one of the world’s largest and most essential industries,” David Liu, co-founder and CEO of Plus, said in a news release.
Santa Clara, California-based Plus was founded by Liu and Stanford University classmate Shawn Kerrigan in 2016. The company develops AI-based virtual driver software for factory-built autonomous trucks.
Plus has deployed autonomous driving technology across the U.S., Europe and Asia, which has been used for more than 5 million miles of driving. The company provides autonomous software to global truck manufacturers Traton Group, Hyundai and Iveco.
The company’s self-driving system, known as SuperDrive is built to autonomously operate heavy commercial trucks.
In April, Plus achieved a key driver-out safety validation milestone with SuperDrive and is currently conducting public road testing in Texas and Sweden, the company said. Additional customer fleet trials are scheduled for fall.
SuperDrive will initially be targeted to truck manufacturers in the U.S. and then expand to Europe. Plus will market SuperDrive as a driver-as-a-service model, providing autonomous software to enable trucking firms with recurring per-mile revenue.
Plus, valued at $1.2 billion pre-money equity value, will provide an attractive entry point for Churchill IX shareholders, officials said.
“After evaluating many opportunities, we knew Plus was the right partner,” Michael Klein, chairman and CEO of Churchill IX, said in a statement. “Trucking is the backbone of the global economy, but the industry faces a persistent driver shortage that autonomous trucking has the potential to solve. Broad adoption depends on confidence in vehicle performance and safety and Plus stands out with its advanced virtual driver platform and a customer-centric commercialization model led by OEM partners.”
Churchill IX is a so-called blank check company, formed for the purpose of targeting other firms for mergers.
The transaction is expected to deliver $300 million in gross proceeds from cash held in Churchill IX’s trust account, which is expected to fund Plus through its commercial launch of SuperDrive-enabled, factory-built autonomous trucks by 2027.
