May Mobility is going public in a $1.4B SPAC deal

May Mobility is merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to go public, potentially raising up to $1.4 billion. The deal could generate more than $300 million for May Mobility, and it will become the first public company in the U.S. focused entirely on autonomous ride-hailing vehicles. This move is meant to differentiate May Mobility from other public companies working on autonomy, such as Tesla, Rivian, Alphabet (with Waymo), and trucking-focused Aurora and Kodiak. The company's approach to autonomy is described as "asset-light" and "partnership-first," where it sells its autonomous vehicles to fleet partners rather than owning and operating them.

The merger involves a $120 million "private investment in public equity" transaction, with up to $217 million from a trust account. May Mobility will use the proceeds to fund research and development, including efforts to remove safety drivers and reduce supply-chain costs. The company has already generated $10 million in revenue and has offered more than 550,000 paid autonomous rides, covering over 1 million miles. It is planning commercial launches in Arlington, Texas, with Uber, and has recently expanded its trial deployment in Japan.

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