Chinese automotive LiDAR firm Seyond (SEYOND) has successfully passed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's listing hearing for its business combination with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) TechStar Acquisition Corporation. The deal values Seyond at HKD 11.7 billion, with an expected listing date of December 10, 2025. This makes Seyond the third De-SPAC merger case in Hong Kong, following Lionhead Holdings and Zhaogang Group, and positions it alongside Hesai and RoboSense as one of the "Big Three" LiDAR players in the Hong Kong market. However, despite this milestone, concerns remain over Seyond's narrow business focus, lack of profitability, and questionable valuation—issues compounded by its turbulent path to listing.
**Revenue Ranks Fourth, but Sales Lag Far Behind—High Pricing Limits New Customer Acquisition** Seyond's listing journey has been anything but smooth. Initially planning a U.S. IPO in 2023, the company pivoted to Hong Kong due to market conditions, filing its application in February 2025 and opting for a De-SPAC route. In contrast, Hesai listed in the U.S. in early 2023 and completed its Hong Kong secondary listing in September 2025, while RoboSense went public in Hong Kong in 2024. Seyond's shifting strategy reflects cautious investor sentiment.
While Seyond claims the fourth-largest global market share (12.8%) in ADAS LiDAR solutions by revenue, this position is misleading. Its sales volume lags significantly behind peers due to exorbitant pricing. In 2025, Seyond's LiDAR units sold for HKD 4,607 each—more than double Hesai's HKD 2,022 and 70% higher than RoboSense's HKD 2,702. This pricing disparity has crippled sales: Seyond moved just 81,214 units in the first five months of 2025, compared to Hesai's 989,311 units (Q1–Q3 2025) and RoboSense's 266,800 units (H1 2025).
Compounding the problem is Seyond's over-reliance on a single client, NIO-SW (NIO), which accounted for 86.2%–91.6% of revenue from 2022 to May 2025. NIO's financial struggles—a HKD 12 billion net loss in H1 2025, widening 16% YoY—directly impact Seyond. Notably, deliveries of NIO models equipped with Seyond's Falcon LiDAR declined in early 2025, dragging Falcon sales down from 71,997 to 69,986 units. Meanwhile, Hesai and RoboSense are diversifying into robotics and autonomous driving, with Hesai selling 158,901 non-automotive LiDAR units (Q1–Q3 2025) and RoboSense 46,300 (H1 2025). Seyond has yet to make inroads here.
**High Prices, Persistent Losses** Seyond's premium pricing hasn’t translated into profitability. Its gross margin for the first five months of 2025 was 12.9% (USD 6.71 million), following years of negative margins. In contrast, Hesai maintains ~40% margins, and RoboSense ~20%. Financially, Hesai turned profitable in 2024 and raised its 2025 net profit target to at least HKD 350 million (13.9% net margin in Q1–Q3), while RoboSense narrowed losses from HKD 2.09 billion in 2022 to HKD 480 million in 2024. Seyond, however, saw losses balloon from USD 188 million (2022) to USD 398 million (2024), with a USD 21.49 million deficit in early 2025—highlighting inefficiencies in cost control and supply chain management.
**PIPE Funding Falls Short, Valuation Concerns Loom** Seyond raised HKD 551 million via PIPE investments from Huangshan Jian Tou Capital, Fucheng, and Zhuhai Hengqin Huagai, earmarked for R&D and balance-sheet strengthening. Yet, with Hesai and RoboSense already leading in technology, customer reach, and scale, this funding may not bridge the gap. Moreover, the PIPE investors lack market clout in Hong Kong.
Despite its struggles, Seyond's HKD 11.7 billion valuation implies a 2024 TTM price-to-sales ratio of 11.1x—higher than Hesai's 10.5x and RoboSense's 10.3x. For an unprofitable, single-client-dependent firm, this premium appears unsustainable, signaling potential downside risks post-listing.
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