"The first stock of unmanned driving in mining areas" has arrived.

On July 8, EACON Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as: EACON) a provider of unmanned driving solutions for mining transportation, was listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the 8th IPO for Li Bin. The company's issue price was HKD 87.92, raising a total of approximately HKD 2.297 billion, with a net fundraising amount of approximately HKD 2.175 billion.

In the dark market yesterday, EACON closed at HKD 91.5, up 4% from the issue price, corresponding to a market value of HKD 13.5 billion. Today, EACON continued its upward trend, opening at HKD 91 per share, up 3.5% from the issue price. By the end of trading, its stock price rose 9.99% to HKD 96.7, with a total market value of HKD 14.299 billion.

The IPO process shows that EACON submitted its application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June and December 2025, and passed the hearing in June 2026. For this IPO, EACON received cornerstone investors including ZIJINNING, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zijin Mining, Aurora SF under Xuzhou Xugong Industrial Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership), Fidelity International, Baillie Gifford, GF Fund, and CDH under Dinghui Investment, with a total subscription of USD 146 million.

So far, apart from EACON, the companies that Li Bin has invested in through Nio Capital and achieved listing include: Bitauto (2010), Yixin (2017), Nio (2018 US stock/2022 Hong Kong stock), Dida Chuxing (2024 Hong Kong stock), Tudatong (2025 Hong Kong Stock Exchange De-SPAC), Heizhima Intelligent (2025 Hong Kong Stock Exchange), and Pony.ai (2025 Hong Kong Stock Exchange dual primary listing).

In addition, several companies invested by Nio Capital are also preparing for IPOs: On May 29, CheLianTianXia submitted its application for the second time, aiming to become the "first stock of smart cockpits in Hong Kong"; on May 28, Lingyi Automobile submitted its application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, aiming to become the "first stock of transportation robots"; Mainline Technology submitted its application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in December 2025, aiming to become the "first stock of autonomous driving trucks (cargo)"; in December 2025, Weilan New Energy initiated its A-share IPO and submitted a counseling record, planning to list on the Growth Enterprise Market.

Over 2 billion raised in 11 rounds of financing in 5 years, Nio gains 5 times return, and Ning Wang is also here

Lan Shuisheng, 45 years old, obtained a bachelor's degree in management from Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics in July 2003. From his university graduation until 2010, he actively engaged in entrepreneurial activities.

As a serial entrepreneur, Lan Shuisheng founded Guangzhou Yishenyou, which was engaged in online game publishing, in August 2010 (which was deregistered in 2015), and founded Guangzhou Yihuan in November 2012, serving as its executive director and chairman. Guangzhou Yihuan was engaged in the overseas publishing of mobile games and was acquired by Wuxi Baotong Technology Co., Ltd. in 2017. Subsequently, Lan Shuisheng resigned as chairman in 2020 and has since ceased to participate in management Chairman and co-founder Zhang Lei has over 10 years of experience in the research and development of autonomous vehicles, focusing on the field of autonomous driving in mining areas and commercial vehicle platforms; Vice President of R&D Dr. Chen Huiyong, an expert in electric vehicle systems, previously served as the chief engineer at Yutong; Vice President of Strategic Ecology Dr. Lin Qiao led Alibaba's Cainiao autonomous driving development department and the aerospace science and industry control system R&D; Chief Financial Officer Qu Xiaoyan has extensive experience in capital operations and has led financing and listing projects for several industry-leading companies.

It is precisely this founding team configuration that, under the leadership of Lanshuisheng, EACON has completed 11 rounds of financing in just over 5 years, starting from the 50 million yuan Pre-A round financing in June 2020, attracting well-known investors such as Xinghang Investment under the Shanghang Finance Bureau, Shanghai Chentao, Zijin Mining, Nio Capital, Stone Capital, Huace Navigation, and CATL, with a total funding support of approximately 2.059 billion yuan.

After the IPO, Lanshuisheng (directly holding 21.64%) and Liu Dongmei (directly holding 1.9%), through direct or indirect means, along with concerted actor Zhang Lei (directly holding 5.07%), formed a group of controlling shareholders, collectively holding 35.19% of EACON's shares.

In addition, Xinghang Investment under the Shanghang Finance Bureau holds a total of 10.06% of EACON's shares, making it the largest external shareholder; Ningbo Nanying holds 6.14%; Shanghai Chentao holds a total of 3.37% through Huzhou Yuecheng, while Chentao Xinghang holds 1.28%; Zijin Mining holds a total of 3.18% through Zijidi Investment, and its affiliated company ZIJINNING holds 1.21%.

Nio Capital holds 2.65% of EACON through Magic Academy; Stone Capital holds 1.27% through Tianjin Stone; Yunji Chuangyuan, which has invested 60 million yuan, holds 0.93%; Huace Navigation holds 0.47% through Xihe Investment; and CATL holds 0.46% through Ningbo Wending.

It is worth mentioning that in November 2020, Platinum Decade Limited, a subsidiary of Nio Capital, invested 40 million yuan to participate in EACON's A round financing, and subsequently in May 2021, it was transferred to Magic Academy under Nio Capital without compensation; in June 2021, Magic Academy invested 16 million yuan to participate in EACON's B round financing. In April 2025, Magic Academy transferred part of its shares for 26 million yuan to Yunji Chuangyuan. Additionally, in June 2025, CATL invested 30 million yuan to participate in EACON's D round investment Based on the closing market value of HKD 14.299 billion on the first day of listing, the book value of EACON is approximately HKD 366 million (about RMB 317 million), and considering the previous exit gains, the overall investment return rate reaches 513.29%; the book value of CATL is approximately HKD 65.7754 million (about RMB 57.0437 million), with an investment return rate of 90.15%; the book value of Cloud Horizon is approximately HKD 133 million (about RMB 115 million), with an investment return rate of about 92.22%.

Last year's revenue was 1.435 billion, net loss was 516 million, cumulative loss over four years was 1.456 billion

The prospectus shows that EACON focuses on the commercial deployment of autonomous driving solutions in mining areas and is one of the early entrants in the autonomous mining transportation field. Its solutions are specifically designed for large open-pit mines with complex mining environments, limited human supply, and strict safety requirements.

According to Frost & Sullivan data, based on revenue in 2025, EACON ranks first in the intelligent driving market for commercial vehicles in China; based on the number of active autonomous mining trucks by the end of 2025, the company is the largest provider of autonomous driving solutions in mining areas in China, with a market share of approximately 37.6% based on revenue in 2025.

By the end of 2025, EACON has deployed a fleet of 2,580 active autonomous mining trucks, completing over 11 million commercial autonomous driving operations. Based on cumulative unmanned transportation volume, unmanned operation mileage, and completed transportation cycles, as well as the company's solutions being deployed in the field for over six years with a continuous safety record, EACON leads its peers.

Currently, there are 11 mining area autonomous driving projects nationwide with over 100 autonomous mining trucks in a single mine, of which 9 have deployed EACON's solutions.

By the end of 2025, EACON's solutions will be deployed in 19 of the 41 open-pit coal mines in China with an annual approved capacity of over 10 million tons, including 7 of the 12 largest open-pit mines based on annual approved capacity, maintaining a 100% retention rate among all end customer groups for three consecutive years from 2022 to 2024.

EACON's revenue mainly comes from autonomous mining truck products and solutions in closed environments, as well as digital solutions for mining areas. Among these, the revenue from the former for 2023-2025 is approximately RMB 266 million, RMB 974 million, and RMB 1.428 billion, accounting for over 98%, specifically 98.2%, 98.7%, and 99.5%.

According to multiple prospectuses, from 2022 to 2025, EACON's revenue is approximately RMB 59.917 million, RMB 271 million, RMB 986 million, and RMB 1.435 billion; gross profit is approximately -RMB 17.69 million, -RMB 50.46 million, RMB 74.713 million, and RMB 145 million, with gross margins of -29.5%, -18.6%, 7.6%, and 10.1%; net losses are approximately RMB 216 million, RMB 334 million, RMB 390 million, and RMB 516 million, with adjusted net losses of approximately RMB 154 million, RMB 284 million, RMB 303 million, and RMB 484 million

As of the end of 2025, EACON holds approximately 245 million yuan in cash and cash equivalents.

In this IPO, EACON plans to use the raised funds to strengthen software research and development, particularly by upgrading autonomous driving algorithms to enhance the transportation efficiency and safety of existing mining areas; strengthen hardware research and development; support information technology development; support overseas business expansion and customer acquisition plans; support talent development and organizational development, focusing on attracting, retaining, and empowering a high-performance cross-disciplinary team; and seek strategic investments that align with the company's long-term growth objectives