The Hefei-based company, with 6,400 intelligent electric heavy-duty trucks delivered in China and aiming for a Hong Kong stock market listing, has garnered interest from an Australian superannuation fund, indicating its clean freight narrative is reaching institutional investors outside its home market. The company is not yet profitable.
DeepWay, the Baidu-supported developer of intelligent electric heavy-duty trucks, has completed the second part of its pre-IPO financing, totaling $310 million before the planned Hong Kong listing.
The recent tranche was spearheaded by Stone Venture and included participation from NGS Super, an Australian superannuation fund for education-sector workers, and Xiamen Guosheng Fund. Existing investors ABC Impact, backed by Temasek, and Nanjing Ronghe Venture Capital also raised their stakes.
NGS Super’s involvement is noteworthy. Australian superannuation funds, which manage retirement savings for educators and community workers, don’t usually lead investments in pre-IPO rounds for Chinese autonomous vehicle firms.
NGS Super’s participation indicates either confidence in the decarbonization of heavy freight as a structural investment trend or a broader search for returns in a market where domestic choices seem limited, or both.
The fund’s chief investment officer, Ben Squires, spoke about the company’s “long-term investment value” and potential to create a “sustainable commercial closed loop,” while emphasizing the fund’s “extensive resources in Australia and New Zealand” in supporting DeepWay’s global aspirations.
DeepWay was founded in 2020 as a joint venture between Baidu and Lionbridge, a Chinese commercial vehicle services platform.
The company’s strategy is direct yet rare: instead of converting existing diesel truck platforms to electric power as most of the industry does, DeepWay designs its vehicles from scratch for electric powertrains and incorporates intelligent driving capabilities from the start.
Baidu, owning a 17.28% stake according to the prospectus, provides the foundation via its Apollo autonomous driving technology, which DeepWay can access and modify under an exclusive commercial vehicle arrangement. The company then adds its driver assistance and platooning systems to that base.
Commercial outcomes have been swift, albeit not profitable so far. In 2023, DeepWay delivered 509 vehicles, 3,002 in 2024, and 2,873 in the first half of 2025, totaling around 6,400 units by June 2025, all from commercial customer orders.
The company’s H1 2025 revenue was approximately CNY 1.5 billion (around $200 million), per its Hong Kong listing prospectus. However, it has not reached profitability: the prospectus documents a net loss of CNY 675 million ($97 million) for the year 2024, and CNY 371 million ($53 million) in H1 2025.
DeepWay anticipates continued losses as it scales up research and development, sales, and international operations.
The listing, filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in November 2025 with CICC and CMB International as joint sponsors, is planned under the city’s Chapter 18C listing regime, which permits specialist technology firms that don’t meet typical financial eligibility criteria to go public provided they meet minimum capitalization standards.
Since its introduction in 2023, a growing number of Chinese autonomous driving and EV companies have used this regime. WeRide and Pony.ai were listed in Hong Kong in October 2025; LiDAR manufacturer Hesai secured $531 million there a month prior.
DeepWay’s technology portfolio is layered. Its Tianji Suixing driver assistance system is now standard across its vehicle lineup, with operators paying a subscription fee for active use.
At the higher-autonomy level, its Tianji Yanxing intelligent platooning system is operational in cargo-carrying runs in multiple Chinese areas and has started commercial deliveries.
DeepWay holds autonomous driving test permits in Beijing, Hefei, Changxing, and Inner Mongolia, aiming for fully autonomous freight robots—trucks without human operators—though the timeline for this is unspecified.
Funds from both pre-IPO tranches will support core operations, technology development, and global expansion. DeepWay has built sales networks in Singapore