Kodiak delivers freight every day for its clients throughout the southern United States utilizing its autonomous know-how. | Supply: Kodiak Robotics
Kodiak Robotics Inc. yesterday introduced that it is going to be going public by way of a special-purpose acquisition firm, or SPAC. The developer of AI-powered autonomous automobile know-how agreed to be acquired by Ares Acquisition Company II, or AACT, an affiliate of Ares Administration Corp. By way of this mixture, Kodiak will change into a publicly listed firm.
“This can be a exceptional milestone for the Kodiak group and reinforces our confidence within the important worth proposition we see in our differentiated driverless know-how,” said Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak. “We consider coming into the general public markets will speed up our technique to develop our current companion relationships, present our know-how to a broader buyer base, and ship enhanced options throughout the business trucking and public-sector industries.”
Based in 2018 by Don Burnette, an trade veteran, Kodiak mentioned it has developed know-how to deal with important challenges within the transportation trade. These embody driver shortages, calls for for shorter supply timelines, and rising prices. The firm’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 repeatedly enhance AI fashions and improve reliability and effectivity in a variety of environments, mentioned the Mountain View, Calif.-based firm. It claimed that clients can simply combine its know-how with their current operations, offering a versatile, scalable, “Driver-as-a-Service” system tailor-made to their wants.
Kodiak Robotics marks current 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 flexibility to all automobile sorts.
By way of its partnership with Atlas Power Options, the corporate mentioned driverless vehicles 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 vehicles.
Kodiak Robotics tailor-made its Driver-as-a-Service enterprise mannequin to satisfy buyer wants by charging both a per-truck or a per-mile recurring license price. At present, the corporate is incomes recurring income via its partnership with Atlas, and it owns and operates autonomous vehicles that generate a price paid per supply.
Along with Atlas, Kodiak has collaborated with main trade 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 know-how for U.S. Military autos.
In 2024, Kodiak delivered to first driverless trucking product to a buyer. It added that its methods can carry 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 gained a 2024 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award for its autonomous check pickup truck for the U.S. army.
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SPAC deal grants entry to $551M
In line with the merger announcement, Kodiak Robotics’ pre-money fairness totaled $2.5 billion. The mixed firm could 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 is predicated on the belief worth per share as of Dec. 31, 2024.
Different institutional traders 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 know-how, mixed with its established community, place the corporate to satisfy the evolving and rising calls for of its clients and communities,” mentioned Allyson Satin, chief working officer of AACT and a companion 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 shall be named Kodiak AI Inc. Its frequent inventory and public warrants shall be listed on a nationwide inventory alternate and commerce underneath the ticker symbols KDK and KDK WS, respectively.
