外媒报道指，内地自动驾驶公司北京初速度科技有限公司Momenta正计划到香港或美国上市，最快有望今年内完成IPO，募资或达10亿美元，目前正与投行就IPO事宜磋商。
天眼查显示，截至2021年11月，Momenta已经完成7轮融资，上汽、通用、丰田、蔚来及博世创投等汽车制造商和供应链公司，腾讯投资、云锋基金、淡马锡、GGV纪源资本等投资机构均有参与。其中，Momenta C轮累计融资额超10亿美元，成为2021年中国自动驾驶领域最大规模的融资。
和其他一开始专注于L4级别自动驾驶的企业相比，Momenta选择L2级量产自动驾驶（Mpilot）与L4级完全无人驾驶（MSD）两条路线齐头并进。前者与汽车公司和一级供应商合作，获取低成本海量测试数据，后者运营无人驾驶出租车。
要实现L4级别的自动驾驶，意味着要“行驶千亿公里，解决百万问题”。曹旭东在接受媒体采访时曾表示，“千亿公里这个目标非常宏大，如果要用无人驾驶实现星际穿越，必须给它们安上强有力的飞轮。Momenta的员工都是架构师，使用数据驱动的方式，通过架构自动化解决问题。”Momenta表示，他们拥有一套自动化的工具链，能够建立对问题自动化发现——记录——标注——训练——验证的闭环过程，为技术和产品提供自动化的迭代能力。
上汽集团也曾谈到投资Momenta的原因，是认可其核心技术“飞轮”的优势，将在智己L7上搭载与Momenta合作的自动驾驶方案。智己L7初期可实现L2+，后续会通过OTA迭代至更高级别。
但合作以外更值得深究的是，智己L7上仍留有兼容2颗激光雷达的软硬件架构冗余方案，这与Momenta正在深耕的纯视觉解决方案相悖。
自动驾驶领域的竞争，本质上是技术与生态之争。车企普遍开始与有实力的Tier1构建长期战略合作伙伴关系，培养产业合作生态。越来越多的车企选择与供应商合作开发自动驾驶功能。以股权换产能，在汽车圈内早已是潜规则。
不管是对于供应商还是车企，数据与软件都是最宝贵的唯一资源。在“灵魂”之争中，对于第三方技术如何定位，跟车企建立长效合作机制一问上，曹旭东对外表示，“Momenta会把格局打开，现在自动驾驶最重要的还是安全性。”
无论最终结果如何，Momenta的“飞轮”已经开转，令我们看到了通往未来驾驶的曙光。而巨头们押注Momenta，还只是一个万亿“赌局”的开始。
Momenta raises up to $1 billion, hopeful to IPO this year
Foreign media reports said that the mainland autonomous driving company Beijing Moment Technology Co Ltd Momenta is planning to go public in Hong Kong or the United States, and is hopeful to complete an IPO within this year at the earliest, raising or up to $1 billion, and is currently negotiating with investment banks on IPO matters.
According to TIANYANCHA on November 2021, Momenta has completed seven rounds of financing, with participation from automakers and supply chain companies such as SAIC, GM, Toyota, Azera and Bosch Ventures, as well as investment institutions such as Tencent Investment, Yunfeng Fund, Temasek and GGV Genealogy Capital, according to SkyEye. Among them, Momenta’s Series C cumulative financing exceeds $1 billion, making it the largest financing in China’s autonomous driving sector in 2021.
Compared with other companies that focused on L4 level autonomous driving at the beginning, Momenta chose two routes to go hand in hand: L2 level mass production autonomous driving (Mpilot) and L4 level fully driverless (MSD). The former partners with car companies and Tier 1 suppliers to obtain low-cost mass testing data, while the latter operates driverless cabs.
To achieve L4 level autonomous driving means “driving 100 billion kilometers and solving millions of problems”. Momenta’s employees are all architects, using a data-driven approach to solve problems through architectural automation.” Momenta says they have an automated tool chain that creates an automated discovery-documentation-labeling-training of problems –Validation closed-loop process, providing automated iteration capabilities for technology and products.
SAIC has also talked about its investment in Momenta because it recognizes the advantages of its core technology “flywheel” and will equip its autonomous driving solution with Momenta in Zhiqi L7. The initial phase of Jiji L7 can achieve L2+, and will subsequently iterate to a higher level through OTA.
But what is more worthy of investigation beyond the cooperation is that the Smart Self L7 still has a redundant software and hardware architecture that is compatible with 2 LIDARs, which is contrary to the pure vision solution that Momenta is cultivating.
The competition in the field of autonomous driving is essentially a battle of technology and ecology. Car companies generally start to build long-term strategic partnerships with strong Tier1 and cultivate industrial cooperation ecology. More and more car companies are choosing to cooperate with suppliers to develop autonomous driving functions. The exchange of equity for capacity has long been the unspoken rule in automotive circles.
Whether for suppliers or car companies, data and software are the most valuable and unique resources. In the battle for the “soul”, on the question of how to position third-party technology and establish a long-term cooperation mechanism with car companies, Cao Xudong said, “Momenta will open up the pattern, and now the most important thing about autonomous driving is safety.”
Regardless of the final result, Momenta’s “flywheel” has been turned on, so that we see the dawn of the future of driving. The giants betting on Momenta is just the beginning of a trillion dollar “bet”.
