Trunk Technology Seeks Hong Kong IPO, Counting Bosch And Nio Among Early Backers The autonomous commercial vehicle technology maker plans to top up with a Hong Kong IPO under a rule allowing ‘specialist technology companies’ to list even if they are losing money image credit: Bamboo Works Key Takeaways: - Trunk Technology has filed for a Hong Kong IPO, counting Bosch and Nio among its early backers - The maker of technology for autonomous commercial vehicles’ revenue rose 35.6% last year, but it has remained in the red for the last three years Losing money used to be a major roadblock for companies looking to list in Hong Kong. But all that has changed in recent years as the stock exchange rolls out a growing list of exceptions to welcome early-stage enterprises with promising new technologies. One of the latest exceptions, called Chapter 18C, has attracted a growing platoon of such "specialist technology companies" since its rollout in 2023. The latest in that procession is Trunk Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., a leading developer of Level 4 (L4) autonomous truck technology and related smart logistics solutions, which submitted its listing application under the Chapter 18C channel earlier this month. Trunk Technology was established in March 2017, and is now China’s fourth-largest provider of autonomous driving solutions for commercial vehicles. Founder Zhang Tianlei possesses extensive experience in autonomous driving and AI, with a resume that includes earlier stints at Microsoft and Baidu between 2012 to 2015. The company’s focus is L4 autonomous driving solutions for trucks, with L4 considered the first fully autonomous level on a six-tier autonomous driving scale ranging from L0, which is fully human controlled, to L5. Its backers include big names like German auto parts supplier Bosch, new energy vehicle maker Nio and BAIC Capital, a unit of