The Beijing supplier of self driving software to automakers including SAIC Motor, BYD, Toyota and Mercedes Benz priced its Hong Kong listing at HK$295.6 per share under stock code 6880, drawing 14 institutional anchor investors locked in before pricing — including Singapore's…
Momenta, the Chinese company that supplies the self-driving software stack behind driver-assist systems and robotaxi fleets for automakers including SAIC, BYD, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz, priced its Hong Kong listing on Monday at HK$295.6 per share under stock code 6880. The deal targets a base raise of about HK$5.89 billion before a 15% over-allotment option (the "greenshoe" that lets underwriters expand a hot deal) and carries 14 cornerstone investors, institutional backers contractually locked in before pricing and typically subject to a six-month lock-up. The roster spans sovereign and long-only money (Singapore's GIC and Fidelity International at US$100 million each, BlackRock at US$25 million, Oaktree at US$20 million, Franklin Templeton at US$10 million) plus two auto strategics: Mercedes-Benz at US$25 million and BYD at US$15 million (prospectus, Leiphone).
The mechanism underneath that roster is the reason they signed up. Momenta's prospectus shows the company has shifted from a low-margin services business into a licensing platform: gross margins climbed from 17.5% in 2023 to 71.6% in 2025, even as revenue more than tripled to Rmb 2.41 billion (about US$330 million). That is the margin profile of a software platform, not the systems-integration shop most of the Chinese autonomous-driving industry still resembles.
The headline numbers still look ugly on paper. Momenta reported a Rmb 3.46 billion loss in 2025, which Chinese tech outlets have led with (163.com, Sina Tech). The prospectus shows that figure is inflated by roughly Rmb 2.8 billion of non-cash fair-value changes on preferred shares, a paper mark tied to rising private valuations. Strip those out and the company narrowed its loss to Rmb 303 million on a non-IFRS adjusted basis, down from Rmb 959 million in 2024 (prospectus financials). The cleaner read is a company still spending hard but closing the gap on cash profitability quickly.
The driver of the margin jump is licensing. Momenta's flagship product is Urban NOA, a driver-assist system that handles navigation, lane changes and intersection work on city streets. From January through November 2025, the software was installed on 414,400 vehicles in China, giving Momenta roughly 61% of the third-party supplier market for that segment, according to the prospectus and industry coverage (Automotive World). Design wins now cover more than 100 vehicle models, with 26 already in mass production, and licensing and royalty revenue grew roughly 42x over three years. Each new model that ships with the stack installed adds margin without adding engineers.
That reach shows up in the customer list. Momenta counts SAIC Motor, BYD, GAC Group, General Motors, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, the Volkswagen Group and Tencent among its backers and buyers (CarNewsChina, prospectus). The deepest commercial hook is with Mercedes-Benz: the German automaker plans to operate a robotaxi fleet of S-Class cars in Abu Dhabi in 2026 using Momenta's software and has committed to installing the same stack on the next-generation S-Class for mass production in 2027. An Uber partnership signed in May 2025 extends that footprint to ride-hailing, while Singapore-based Grab took a stake in December.
The cornerstone composition matters more than the headline total. In Hong Kong IPOs, cornerstones are contractually bound before pricing, so a roster this deep (sovereign wealth, long-only asset managers, two global automakers and a Chinese chipmaker) usually signals strong institutional demand. It also concentrates the outcome. GIC and Fidelity alone account for more than half the cornerstone dollars; if either trims its China exposure later, the stock has fewer natural holders. On the China side, GigaDevice (兆易创新) committed US$6 million, while Gao Yi Asset Management, Boyu Capital, Huaxia Fund, GF Fund, China Pacific Insurance (CPIC) and Suzhou Mosu filled out the roster at US$10 million each.
The structure of the deal reinforces the read. Hong Kong IPOs almost always carry a price range; the prospectus and leads set a band, take orders, then price inside it. Momenta went straight to a single final price of HK$295.6, a structure more common in tightly held, hot-demand offerings (prospectus). People familiar with the deal have compared the cornerstone lineup to CATL's 2018 Hong Kong listing, according to Chinese tech media, though that framing is marketing rather than disclosure (Leiphone).
Two real risks sit underneath. First, the source labels Momenta "the first Physical AI stock," a category pitch that links self-driving cars to humanoid robotics and other embodied AI. The prospectus itself is dominated by Urban NOA licensing revenue; the robotaxi, delivery van and humanoid programs are commercial but small. If investors paid for a diversified Physical AI platform, the prospectus has to deliver one. Second, the customer base concentrates risk. The top automakers are both Momenta's largest revenue sources and its largest shareholders, which means each pricing negotiation is also a shareholder negotiation.
The watch item is licensing mix. The 42x licensing growth over three years is the engine of the 71.6% gross margin, and the next two quarterly disclosures after listing will show whether the margin holds as more mass-production models come online, or whether competitive pressure from rivals like Huawei's intelligent automotive unit forces Momenta to share more economics with its OEM partners.