SAIC-backed Zebra Intelligence (斑马智能) resurfaces for IPO after three-year RMB 3.6bn loss; ex‑CFO reportedly accuses firm of “raising money by going public”

IPO bid and governance questions

Zebra Intelligence (斑马智能), the auto software joint venture incubated by Alibaba (阿里巴巴) and SAIC Motor (上汽集团), has filed to go public again — months after an earlier Hong Kong submission lapsed. It had previously filed in August 2025 under the name “Zebra Network Technology Co., Ltd.”; those documents expired on Feb. 20. The fresh filing updates financials but still shows the CFO role vacant, and it has been reported that former CFO Xia Lian (夏莲) publicly criticised the listing push, saying she left because she “did not believe in the business” and did not want to “raise money by going public.”

Why the controversy? Ownership and client concentration complicate the narrative. Before the IPO, Alibaba-held shares totalled 41.67% (controlling 37.09% of votes) while SAIC held 32.90% (controlling 35.48% of votes). The company’s top-five customer concentration was very high — 89.9%, 88.5% and 76.4% in 2023–2025 — with SAIC the largest single customer. Such ties raise classic conflict-of-interest and related‑party scrutiny questions for investors, especially given the founder‑backers include a major state-linked automaker and a private tech champion.

Cash burn, R&D intensity and market position

Financially, Zebra reported cumulative losses of roughly RMB 3.6 billion over the past three years while revenues were broadly flat at about RMB 872m, 824m and 861m for 2023–2025. R&D spending has been outsized: RMB 1.123bn, 980m and 725m respectively — equal to 128.8%, 118.9% and 84.2% of revenue in those years — underscoring the company’s heavy investment in its in‑house automotive OS and AI cockpit stack. Zebra says it is one of only two fully self‑developed third‑party automotive operating‑system suppliers in China and claims broad OEM penetration: its products were installed in about 9.4 million vehicles across 69 manufacturers and 16 markets by end‑2025.

Cash management has been volatile. Zebra held RMB 2.971bn at end‑2023, plunged to RMB 104m by end‑2024 and recovered to RMB 898m by end‑2025; as of Jan. 2026 it reported RMB 538m cash on hand plus about RMB 120m in fair‑value financial assets and nearly RMB 1.2bn unused bank lines. The company also bought sizeable floating‑rate structured deposits in 2024–25, prompting market debate over the “borrowing to invest” strategy. For Western investors, the backdrop matters: Chinese tech listings continue to face greater regulatory and geopolitical scrutiny, and related‑party links to large local industrial groups add another layer of risk and governance focus for any eventual IPO.