Tekcapital shares gained on Friday after the technology incubator released a comprehensive operational update for portfolio company Guident ahead of its proposed IPO.
Guident has made strides forward on numerous fronts in recent months. The autonomous vehicle safety company has been busy improving its technology stack and developing commercial relationships as it pursues the $25 billion opportunity in automotive active safety systems.
The key to a successful IPO will be demonstrating commercial traction and validating Tekcapital’s investment thesis. Today’s update goes a long way toward this by announcing deployments of Guident’s Remote Monitoring and Control Centers (RMCC) and several proposals for additional deployments.
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority has extended its contract with Guident for several autonomous vehicle projects. Simultaneously, negotiations are underway for Remote Monitoring and Control Center (RMCC) deployments at two major educational institutions: Michigan State University and the University at Buffalo.
In Georgia, a new proposal has been submitted for an autonomous vehicle project that includes RMCC capabilities for the City of Peachtree Corners.
Guident hasn’t shared any revenue figures yet, but given the scale of the organisations they partner with, one would assume these deployments would run into millions of dollars.
On the technical front, significant improvements have been implemented, including a redundant multi-network connectivity system that integrates private and public mobile networks using 4G/5G technology alongside both GEO and LEO satellite systems.
The user interface has been enhanced to better manage multi-vehicle and AV fleet operations, while safety features have been upgraded with advanced AI-based Incident Risk Level algorithms.
“We are very excited about the recent progress of Guident and the performance of its leadership,” said Clifford M. Gross, Ph.D., Executive Chairman of Tekcapital.
“We believe the timing for Guident’s potential IPO next year is quite opportune considering the transformative capital market events in the AV industry during the past sixty days. We are looking forward to Guident realising its first mover advantage in the rapidly developing AV industry and the potential contribution it can make to saving lives.”
As Clifford Gross alludes to, Guident is seeking an IPO as autonomous vehicle capital markets activity enters a boom phase.
WeRide’s public offering and concurrent private placement are expected to generate $458.5 million in proceeds, while Waymo secured its largest-ever funding round of $5.6 billion from investors. Meanwhile, Pony.ai has announced plans to raise $200 million at a proposed $4 billion valuation.
Tesla made headlines with its Robotaxi launch announcement in October, and Elon Musk’s new role in the White House is expected to accelerate the rollout of autonomous vehicles as regulations are addressed.
Many states, including California, Florida, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, and Louisiana, require all autonomous vehicles to have remote control and monitoring functionality.