(Bloomberg) -- Hesai Group, a Chinese developer of sensor technologies used in self-driving cars, is planning to raise as much as $171 million in a US initial public offering.

The Shanghai-based startup is offering 9 million American depositary shares at $17 to $19 apiece, according to an exchange filing on Thursday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. 

Hesai could sell as many as 10.35 million ADS if an over-allotment option is fully exercised, taking the potential proceeds as high as $197 million.

The offering makes Hesai among the first Chinese companies to launch US IPOs this year, heralding a wave of listings riding on the recent market boom. Such listings slowed to a trickle amid an auditing dispute between the two countries’ regulators and pessimism over China’s economy due to its restrictive Covid policies. 

Chinese stocks listed in the US got off to a flying start in 2023, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index gaining 22% since the start of the year. 

Founded in 2014, Hesai develops and produces lidar sensors for autonomous driving cars and robotics applications. The company’s investors include Chinese search engine Baidu Inc., smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. and German engineering conglomerate Robert Bosch GmbH. 

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group AG and Huatai Securities Co. are arranging the Hesai offering. 

(Updates throughout with prospectus.)

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