PlusAI targets year-end close on $800M Texas Ventures SPAC

PlusAI expects to close its merger with Texas Ventures Acquisition III Corp. by the end of the year, co-founder and CEO David Liu told FreightWaves. The deal, announced Sept. 3, values the autonomous trucking developer at an $800 million pre-money equity value. The transaction could bring PlusAI up to about $300 million.

That total pairs more than $60 million in committed financing with a SPAC trust of about $236 million. Funds managed by Yorkville Advisors, the SPAC’s financial backer, made a significant share of the commitment alongside new and existing investors. How much of the trust PlusAI keeps depends on redemptions at closing, Liu said.

The committed money alone satisfies the deal’s minimum cash condition, according to the deal announcement the two companies filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is also expected to fund PlusAI through 2027. “In terms of certainty of this transaction, it has very, very high certainty of closing in the coming months,” Liu said.

The agreement follows PlusAI’s termination of its merger with Churchill Capital Corp IX in April, a decision the company tied to market conditions. The combined company will operate as PlusAI and list on Nasdaq. A listing opens PlusAI to a much broader pool of investors, Liu said.

HyperFoundry revenue PlusAI’s HyperFoundry development platform has generated $25 million in revenue this year, according to the filing. The company is targeting $40 million to $50 million in contracted revenue for 2026. Revenue should grow significantly in the second half, Liu said.

Liu said the $40 million to $50 million would come in at almost three times what Aurora books this year. Aurora reaffirmed full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $14 million to $16 million in July, a recognized-revenue figure. PlusAI’s filing frames its own number as contracted revenue.

HyperFoundry combines three pieces, Liu said: a data factory, a model factory and a simulation and verification environment called SimVerse. The company built them to develop its own virtual driver and now offers the platform to traditional engineering OEMs in adjacent industries.

“These traditional large engineering OEMs, they are all looking at, how do I make intelligence into my machine? And if PlusAI can do this for trucking, this could be the same thing for us,” Liu said. PlusAI is working selectively with a few large HyperFoundry customers, Liu said, and expects to announce news on that business line soon.

Autonomous trucking remains the top priority, he said, because PlusAI has made commitments to customers and partners to launch it commercially. OEM distribution through TRATON PlusAI runs daily commercial pilot runs in Texas with International and Ryder, Liu said. The company plans to add fleet customers to that program in the coming months.

“But now we’re beyond just technology viability. That’s been proven already by us, along with some other companies as well. And now the real question is how do you actually commercially scale the technology to a much broader set of customers,” Liu said. His answer is OEM distribution.

TRATON Group, whose brands include Scania, MAN, International and Volkswagen Truck & Bus, picked PlusAI to build autonomy into its trucks, and the two companies have worked together for years, Liu said. Ryder is among TRATON’s fleet customers, he said. Hyundai and IVECO are also partners, according to the filing.

SuperDrive, PlusAI’s Level 4 driving system, will be deployed through its OEM partners’ existing manufacturing, sales and service channels, according to the filing. The company plans to earn recurring revenue from it through a Driver-as-a-Service model. “We are looking at launching driverless trucks commercially and starting to scale that in 2027,” Liu said.

“We’re on track to do that.” The post PlusAI targets year-end close on $800M Texas Ventures SPAC appeared first on FreightWaves.