Autonomous trucking technology company Kodiak Robotics announced it is going public via a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.

Kodiak Inc. and Ares Acquisition Corporation II announced they have entered into a definitive business combination agreement through which Kodiak will become a publicly listed company.

Kodiak was founded in 2018 by industry veteran Don Burnette. He called this “a remarkable milestone [that] reinforces our confidence in the significant value proposition we see in our differentiated driverless technology.

“We believe entering the public markets will accelerate our strategy to expand our existing partner relationships, provide our technology to a broader customer base, and deliver enhanced solutions across the commercial trucking and public sector industries.”

Kodiak's Automated Driving System

Kodiak’s single-platform automated driving system, the Kodiak Driver, combines advanced AI-driven software with modular hardware. 

The Kodiak Driver integrates learnings from real-world experience across commercial trucking and public sector applications to continuously improve its AI models. It has logged over 2.6 million autonomous miles in real-world conditions.

Kodiak’s platform is designed to enable technology integration with customers’ existing operations, providing a flexible, scalable, Driver-as-a-Service solution.

Kodiak’s Driver-as-a-Service business model charges customers either a per truck or per mile recurring license fee. Today, Kodiak earns recurring revenue through its partnership with Atlas and owns and operates autonomous trucks that generate a fee paid per delivery.

Kodiak's Autonomous Tech in Action

In 2024, Kodiak said it believed it was the first company to announce delivery of a driverless trucking product to a customer.

Through its partnership with Atlas Energy Solutions, Kodiak-powered driverless trucks have achieved more than 750 hours of commercial driverless operations across West Texas's Permian Basin without a human driver on board. 

Kodiak expects to support Atlas in further expanding its fleet this year. Last month, Atlas committed to order an initial 100 trucks.

In addition to Atlas, Kodiak has collaborated with major industry players such as Bridgestone, C.R. England, J.B. Hunt, Martin Brower, and Werner Enterprises. 

In addition, Kodiak was awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Defense and has received approximately $30 million to adapt its autonomous technology for U.S. Army vehicles. 

More About the Deal Taking Kodiak Public

Today, Kodiak’s lane network operates primarily in the Sunbelt region, serving some of the most freight-dense lanes in the U.S.

Kodiak estimates a roughly $1 trillion market opportunity in the U.S. alone, with the potential for a total global addressable market of over $4 trillion. 

New and existing Kodiak institutional investors including Soros Fund Management, ARK Investments and Ares have funded or committed over $110 million in financing to support the transaction alongside approximately $551 million of cash held in trust

Additionally, existing Kodiak investor ARK Investments has expressed its continued support of Kodiak. Kodiak was featured in ARK's Big Ideas 2025 report.

The boards of directors of both Kodiak and AACT have unanimously approved the proposed business combination, which is expected to close in the second half of 2025, subject to approval by AACT and Kodiak stockholders and customary closing conditions. 

Upon closing, the combined company will be named Kodiak AI Inc.