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Youjia Innovation is set to become the fourth "smart driving unicorn company" to enter the capital market within two months, following Horizon Robotics, WeRide, and Pony.ai, and will also be the last smart driving IPO project of the year.

Youjia Innovation plans to issue 39,190,000 H shares in this IPO, with a subscription range of HKD 17.00 to HKD 20.20 per share. Based on the upper limit of the subscription range, Youjia Innovation could raise approximately HKD 790 million through this IPO.

It is worth noting that Youjia Innovation has introduced two cornerstone investors in this issuance: Kang Cheng Heng International Investment Co., Ltd. and Horizon Together Holding Ltd., with a total subscription exceeding HKD 540 million. Among them, Horizon Together Holding Ltd. is actually Horizon Robotics (9660.HK).

Prior to the IPO, Youjia Innovation had already received investments from well-known institutions such as NavInfo, Zeyi Investment, National Development Fund for Manufacturing Transformation, CICC Capital, Yuanjing Capital, Harvest Investment, PwC Capital, Dongfang Fuhai, Cathay Capital, and Boyuan Capital.

Founded in 2014, Youjia Innovation is a Chinese supplier of smart driving and smart cockpit solutions, covering key aspects of the driving experience, including navigation, parking, and in-cabin functions, and gradually developing smart driving solutions with increasing automation levels from L0 to L4.

As of June 30, 2024, Youjia Innovation has engaged in mass production with 29 automakers for 94 vehicle models, including seven of the top ten domestic automakers by sales; as of December 10, 2024, Youjia Innovation has cumulatively engaged in mass production for 35 automakers.

According to data from ZhiShi Consulting, based on revenue from L0 to L2+ solutions in 2023, Youjia Innovation ranks fourth among all emerging technology companies in China. Additionally, Youjia Innovation is also developing and testing L4 autonomous driving capabilities, which are expected to deliver the iRobo solution in the first quarter of 2025.

It should be noted that Youjia Innovation's progressive development route from L0 to L4 provides it with a differentiated competitive advantage, allowing it to quickly meet customer needs and effectively achieve the scalability and mass production of solutions—for example, Youjia Innovation obtained the point of contact for an L2+ solution for a high-end coupe from an automaker in 2021, which went into production in 2023. Subsequently, Youjia Innovation obtained a new point of contact for L2 and L2+ solutions for a medium SUV model from the same automaker, with the L2 solution going into production in 2024. In addition, Youjia Innovation obtained points of contact for four models in an automaker's product line, first providing an L2+ solution for its compact crossover in 2022, followed by L2 and L2+ solutions for its medium SUV and compact SUV models in 2023, and recently providing L2 and L2+ solutions for its new SUV model in 2024.

It is noteworthy that while continuously strengthening its domestic market efforts, Youjia Innovation's globalization strategy is also advancing—as of June 30, 2024, Youjia Innovation's solutions have been selected by six automakers for 15 export models under development, and have achieved SOP for 21 export models for four automakers, with these export models being sold to regions including the EU, Australia, the UK, and Southeast Asia.

In fact, since its inception, Youjia Innovation has focused on the forefront development of overseas laws and regulations and proactively carried out R&D activities. It is also the only smart driving solution supplier in mainland China to be awarded the "2023 Supplier Innovation Award" by ZF Group. In November of this year, Youjia Innovation assisted one of its automaker clients in obtaining EU General Safety Regulation (GSR) Advanced Driver Distraction Warning (ADDW) system certification and Driver Fatigue and Attention Warning System (DDAW) certification. According to data from ZhiShi Consulting, Youjia Innovation is one of the first suppliers of Driver Monitoring System (DMS) solutions in China to successfully help automakers obtain EU GSR ADDW and DDAW certifications.

In terms of financial data, from 2021 to 2023, Youjia Innovation's revenue was RMB 175 million, RMB 279 million, and RMB 476 million, with a compound annual growth rate of 64.9%. In the first half of this year, Youjia Innovation's revenue increased by 44.5% from RMB 164 million in the same period of 2023 to RMB 237 million.

From 2021 to 2023, Youjia Innovation's gross margin was 9.7%, 12.0%, and 14.3%; in the first half of this year, Youjia Innovation's gross margin increased nearly 6 percentage points from 8.3% in the same period of 2023 to 14.1%.

Additionally, thanks to the synergistic development of its three major businesses—smart driving, smart cockpit, and vehicle-road collaboration—and the improvement of gross margins in its core business, Youjia Innovation's adjusted net loss rate significantly decreased from 74.8% and 73.7% in 2021 and 2022 to 38.8% in 2023, and narrowed by about 40 percentage points from 74.2% in the same period of 2023 to 34.8%.

In fact, the smart driving solution industry in China is rapidly growing, and domestic suppliers are gaining market share through rapid product iteration and strong product adaptability. According to data from ZhiShi Consulting, the market share of domestic smart driving solution suppliers increased from 6% in 2019 to 18% in 2023.