Hesai Group, China’s largest LiDAR manufacturer, surged on its first day of trading in Hong Kong, raising HK$4.16 billion ($535 million) in the largest-ever listing for the global LiDAR industry.
Shares rose 11% to HK$236.2 by midday, giving the Shanghai-based company a market capitalization of about HK$36 billion. The offering marks the first dual primary listing in the United States and Hong Kong by a LiDAR maker, and the biggest capital raise by a U.S.-listed Chinese company returning to the city in nearly four years.
Hesai said roughly half of the proceeds will be directed to research and development, with another 35% earmarked for production capacity expansion. “We have reduced the cost of LiDAR from $100,000, once limited to research institutions, to only $200,” co-founder and chief scientist Sun Kai said in a statement. “Our goal is to make advanced safety and intelligent technologies accessible to the public.”
Founded in 2014, Hesai listed on Nasdaq in February 2023 and currently operates two facilities — the Hertz plant in Hangzhou and the Maxwell R&D and smart manufacturing center in Shanghai. In 2024, it delivered 501,900 LiDAR units, up 126% year-on-year, and became the first publicly listed LiDAR manufacturer to achieve annual profitability, reporting non-GAAP net income of RMB 13.7 million ($1.9 million).
For the first half of 2025, the company reported net income of RMB 26.5 million, compared with a loss of RMB 179 million a year earlier.