CHINESE self-driving start up WeRide has filed for a US$439.9 million initial public offering on Nasdaq, reports Reuters.

As part of the offering, the Guangzhou-based company will offer 6.5 million American depositary shares in a price range of $15.5 to $18.5 apiece, rising to $119.4 million. It also plans to raise $320.5 million in a concurrent private placement.

The autonomous driving start up had in August said it would seek a valuation of as much as $5.02 billion as part of its IPO, at a time when the Biden administration was expected to propose barring Chinese software in autonomous vehicles in the United States.

The company was granted approval last year by China's securities regulator for a US listing.

It was founded in Silicon Valley in 2017 and later incorporated in the Cayman Islands. It then launched a robotaxi service in Guangzhou in 2019.