Kodiak delivers freight every day for its prospects throughout the southern United States utilizing its autonomous expertise. | Supply: Kodiak Robotics
Kodiak Robotics Inc. yesterday introduced that it will likely be going public through a special-purpose acquisition firm, or SPAC. The developer of AI-powered autonomous automobile expertise agreed to be acquired by Ares Acquisition Company II, or AACT, an affiliate of Ares Administration Corp. By means of this mixture, Kodiak will turn into a publicly listed firm.
“It is a exceptional milestone for the Kodiak staff and reinforces our confidence within the vital worth proposition we see in our differentiated driverless expertise,” acknowledged Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak. “We consider coming into the general public markets will speed up our technique to increase our current associate relationships, present our expertise to a broader buyer base, and ship enhanced options throughout the business trucking and public-sector industries.”
Based in 2018 by Don Burnette, an business veteran, Kodiak mentioned it has developed expertise to deal with essential challenges within the transportation business. These embody driver shortages, calls for for shorter supply timelines, and rising prices. The corporate’s single-platform automated driving system, the Kodiak Driver, combines superior synthetic intelligence software program with modular {hardware}.
The Kodiak Driver integrates classes from business trucking and public-sector functions to constantly enhance AI fashions and enhance reliability and effectivity in a variety of environments, mentioned the Mountain View, Calif.-based firm. It claimed that prospects can simply combine its expertise with their current operations, offering a versatile, scalable, “Driver-as-a-Service” system tailor-made to their wants.
Kodiak Robotics marks latest milestones
The Kodiak Driver has logged greater than 2.6 million autonomous miles in real-world circumstances. Kodiak Robotics additionally mentioned it developed the system for scalability and adaptableness to all automobile varieties.
By means of its partnership with Atlas Vitality Options, the corporate mentioned driverless vans have surpassed 750 hours of economic driverless operations throughout West Texas’s Permian Basin with out a human driver on board. It mentioned it expects to assist Atlas in additional increasing its fleet in 2025. Final month, it secured a agency dedication from Atlas to order an preliminary 100 vans.
Kodiak Robotics tailor-made its Driver-as-a-Service enterprise mannequin to fulfill buyer wants by charging both a per-truck or a per-mile recurring license price. Immediately, the corporate is incomes recurring income by way of its partnership with Atlas, and it owns and operates autonomous vans that generate a price paid per supply.
Along with Atlas, Kodiak has collaborated with main business gamers, together with Bridgestone, C.R. England, J.B. Hunt, Martin Brower, and Werner Enterprises. As well as, the U.S. Division of protection has awarded a contract to the corporate, which has obtained roughly $30 million to adapt its autonomous expertise for U.S. Military autos.
In 2024, Kodiak delivered to first driverless trucking product to a buyer. It added that its methods can convey down prices and improve security within the business trucking and public-sector markets. By partnering with AACT and accessing the general public markets, Kodiak mentioned it expects to speed up its go-to-market technique.
The corporate received a 2024 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award for its autonomous take a look at pickup truck for the U.S. navy.
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SPAC deal grants entry to $551M
In keeping with the merger announcement, Kodiak Robotics’ pre-money fairness totaled $2.5 billion. The mixed firm can have entry to roughly $551 million of money held in AACT’s belief account at closing. That is assuming no redemptions of current AACT shares and relies on the belief worth per share as of Dec. 31, 2024.
Different institutional buyers have invested or dedicated greater than $110 million to assist the transaction. These embody associates of Soros Fund Administration, ARK Investments, and Ares.
“We consider Kodiak’s scalable expertise, mixed with its established community, place the corporate to fulfill the evolving and rising calls for of its prospects and communities,” mentioned Allyson Satin, chief working officer of AACT and a associate at Ares.
The boards of administrators of each Kodiak and AACT have unanimously accepted the proposed enterprise mixture. Kodiak mentioned it expects the merger to shut within the second half of 2025. It’s topic to approval by AACT and Kodiak stockholders and the satisfaction or waiver of customary closing circumstances.
Upon the closing of the proposed enterprise mixture, the mixed firm will likely be named Kodiak AI Inc. Its frequent inventory and public warrants will likely be listed on a nationwide inventory alternate and commerce beneath the ticker symbols KDK and KDK WS, respectively.
