“DJI Godfather” Li Zexiang Rings the Bell, Securing Hong Kong’s First Listed Commercial-Vehicle Intelligent Driving Stock

After eight years of steady building, Cidi Intelligent Driving has finally reached its bell-ringing moment.

On December 19, the commercial-vehicle autonomous driving company officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the stock code “3881.” Shares opened at HK$263—flat versus the offer price—giving the company an opening market capitalization of HK$11.16 billion. The debut also makes Cidi the first Hong Kong–listed company focused specifically on intelligent driving for commercial vehicles, and the seventh “specialist technology” issuer to list under the HKEX Chapter 18C regime.

In this IPO, Cidi offered 5.408 million shares globally at a final offer price of HK$263 per share, raising total proceeds of HK$1.422 billion. After listing expenses, net proceeds are approximately HK$1.309 billion.

Demand proved robust even before day one. By midday on December 16, the Hong Kong IPO subscription was completed, with the public tranche recording 14.1x oversubscription and margin financing reaching HK$1.1 billion. The strong interest triggered a clawback mechanism, lifting the public offering allocation from 5% to 20%. Cornerstone investors—including Xiangjiang Zhichi among five institutions—subscribed a combined HK$550 million.

Cidi officially arrives on the Hong Kong market

Cidi’s business spans autonomous driving for mining operations, V2X vehicle-to-infrastructure collaboration, and high-performance perception solutions for rail and commercial transportation. While the company has kept a relatively low profile, both its founder and its backers are widely recognized names in the industry.

Founder and Chairman Li Zexiang previously served as Chairman of DJI. DJI founder Frank Wang (Wang Tao) is widely regarded as Li’s protégé, earning Li the nickname “the godfather of DJI.” According to the prospectus, as of the latest practicable date, Li indirectly held 16,750,130 shares—about 43.64% of the total issued share capital—cementing his role as the company’s core decision-maker.

On the capital side, the shareholder roster features heavyweight institutions including Sequoia Capital, Xinding Capital, Legend Holdings, China Everbright Limited, and Baidu Ventures.

At the listing ceremony, Li Zexiang summed up the moment with a clear signal of ambition: today is not only a capital markets debut, but a new starting line.

With this listing, Cidi enters a new stage of growth—one defined by deeper capitalization, faster scaling, and heightened market visibility.

01 A “scholar-founder” dream team—and a RMB 9 billion valuation

Founded in 2017, Cidi’s leadership lineup reads like a benchmark case for academic entrepreneurship.

The central figure is Li Zexiang, who oversees overall direction, management structure, and strategic development goals—while also mobilizing external resources to strengthen the company’s technical capabilities.

Public information shows Li studied at Central South Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (also the alma mater of BYD founder Wang Chuanfu). In 1979, he received a government-sponsored opportunity to study abroad, and in 1989 earned a PhD in Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

In the 1990s, Li joined the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology as faculty and later incubated GGGI (GaoGong Technology), a leading company in motion control.

In 2005, Li met DJI founder Frank Wang and provided pivotal guidance. After DJI was founded in 2006, Li continued supporting the company through funding and talent, and served as chairman. He also backed high-profile robotics ventures such as Narwal, further reinforcing his reputation as a key mentor and catalyst for tech entrepreneurship.

Cidi’s co-founder and Vice Chairman Ma Wei is another heavyweight, with more than 20 years of experience in electronics and technology. He previously served as a lecturer at Xidian University, and held directorship roles at National Semiconductor and Texas Instruments. At Cidi, Ma focuses on building the technical framework and business model, driving new product R&D, and setting strategic direction for research initiatives.

The youngest founding member is CEO Hu Sibo, who joined in January 2018 and was appointed Director and Chief Executive Officer in October 2023. Earlier in his career, Hu worked in algorithmic trading in the United States and developed automated trading systems and strategies. Today, he leads system algorithms and simulation R&D, business development, marketing, production operations, and financial oversight.

Backed by this team, Cidi’s fundraising progressed quickly. The prospectus shows the company completed eight financing rounds since inception, raising nearly RMB 1.5 billion in total. Investors include Sequoia Capital, Xinding Capital, Legend Holdings, China Everbright Limited, and Baidu Ventures, among others. The latest post-money valuation is approximately RMB 9 billion.

As of the latest practicable date, Sequoia held 10.61% and Xinding held 9.67%. Other notable shareholders include Fangzheng Hesheng, Liangjiang Fund, Xiangjiang State-Owned Investment, and Baidu, each holding meaningful stakes.

02 Five product lines to secure a position in a trillion-RMB opportunity

Cidi believes its momentum comes not only from its founding bench strength, but also from sharp market selection and a disciplined product strategy.

From day one, Cidi avoided the crowded battleground of passenger-car autonomy and instead went deep into closed and semi-closed environments such as mines and ports—scenarios with urgent automation demand and clearer commercialization paths.

According to data from China Insights Consultancy (CIC), China’s commercial-vehicle autonomous driving market reached RMB 4.8 billion in 2024 and is projected to surge to RMB 774.3 billion by 2030—an expansion that underscores the scale of the opportunity.

Against this backdrop, Cidi has built a structured portfolio of five product lines.

The first is its core autonomous driving solutions, focused on mining and logistics.

In mining, Cidi launched the “Meta-Mine” full-stack solution, covering end-to-end unmanned operations across drilling, blasting, and haulage. The system includes autonomous mining trucks, fleet management software, and an intelligent dispatch platform.

In logistics, the company targets factories, logistics parks, and other closed or semi-closed environments, providing heavy-load autonomous logistics solutions that support cargo loading/unloading and mixed traffic operations involving pedestrians and conventional vehicles.

In its prospectus, Cidi highlights multiple “only” and “first” milestones, including being the only company in China to deliver autonomous driving solutions spanning closed scenarios, urban scenarios, and intercity roads; operating what it claims is the world’s largest mixed-operation mining fleet—56 autonomous mining trucks running alongside a fleet of 500 human-driven trucks; and launching China’s first fully unmanned pure-electric mining fleet.

Based on CIC’s information, Cidi ranked as China’s largest commercial-vehicle autonomous driving company by 2024 product sales revenue, with a market share of 16.8%. By the same metric, it also ranked No.1 in China’s autonomous mining truck solutions market.

Another major revenue contributor is Cidi’s V2X vehicle-road collaboration solutions, which integrate perception technologies, sensor-fusion algorithms, V2X communications, and traffic-optimization algorithms.

Notably, Cidi’s V2X products reached market early—its commercialization and revenue generation in this line can be traced back to 2018, roughly three years ahead of its autonomous driving solutions.

The prospectus states that Cidi was among the first autonomous driving companies in China to launch commercial V2X offerings. A flagship project is the active bus-priority system deployed in Changsha in 2020, described as the world’s largest bus-priority system based on 5G + V2X vehicle-road collaboration.

Cidi’s high-performance perception products include the Train Autonomous Perception System (TAPS) and an in-vehicle intelligent safety management solution for commercial vehicles.

TAPS adapts autonomous truck perception technologies to rail transit, using sensors such as LiDAR and cameras to support speed measurement, positioning, and obstacle detection.

The commercial-vehicle safety management solution leverages high-performance connected devices and analytics platforms to reduce driving risks.

From this IPO, Cidi plans to allocate proceeds primarily to R&D (55%), commercialization expansion (15%), and industrial-chain integration (20%). Joint sponsors are CICC, CITIC Securities International, and Ping An Securities.

The prospectus also outlines potential investment and M&A targets, including suppliers with strong R&D and delivery capabilities in autonomous driving software/hardware systems and key components, as well as suppliers with strong production and delivery capacity in autonomous vehicles, V2X hardware, and related areas.

Cidi’s view is clear: the five vertical tracks it has chosen all carry high-growth potential, with a combined addressable market exceeding the trillion-RMB level. As its business boundaries expand and adoption accelerates, the company sees an increasingly broad runway ahead.

03 Past the listing threshold—now the profitability exam begins

For a growth-stage company, markets will scrutinize not only products and customers, but also its ability to generate sustainable cash flow.

Cidi’s financial performance shows two distinct sides.

On one hand, revenue has expanded rapidly—from RMB 77.385 million in 2021 to RMB 410 million in 2024. In the first half of 2025, revenue reached RMB 408 million, nearly matching the prior full year—signaling strong acceleration.

Gross margin has also improved dramatically, from -19.3% in 2022 to 24.7% in 2024, suggesting operational efficiency and business-model refinement are taking hold.

Customer momentum has been similarly strong. As of December 31 in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and June 30, 2025, Cidi served 44, 85, 131, and 152 customers, respectively.

By June 30, 2025, Cidi had delivered 304 autonomous mining trucks and 110 standalone autonomous truck systems. It had also received indicative orders for 357 autonomous mining trucks and 290 standalone autonomous truck systems.

Overseas momentum is also emerging: Cidi’s indicative overseas orders reached RMB 648 million, providing meaningful forward visibility for future revenue.

On the other hand, Cidi still faces the industry’s common challenge of “growing revenue without growing profit.”

From 2022 to 2024, net losses were RMB 263 million, RMB 255 million, and RMB 581 million, respectively—more than RMB 1 billion in cumulative losses. In the first half of 2025, the loss widened further to RMB 455 million.

The primary driver is sustained, high-intensity investment. In the first half of 2025, general and administrative expenses reached RMB 200 million, while R&D spending was RMB 151 million—together accounting for 86% of revenue in the period.

Meanwhile, cash reserves fell from RMB 306 million at the end of 2024 to RMB 186 million, and net liabilities exceeded RMB 1 billion. Operating cash flow has been negative for three consecutive years, reflecting ongoing pressure on the funding runway.

Against this backdrop, the successful Hong Kong listing provides critical capital support. It not only eases near-term liquidity pressure, but also strengthens Cidi’s “ammunition” for competing in a massive, fast-moving market.

But with the capital markets door now open, scrutiny intensifies as well. Cidi’s commercialization journey is entering a new phase—better funded, more visible, and facing a tougher, more immediate test: turning scale into sustainable profitability.