Motive calls off IPO, leaving Unic-Tech waiting for its first big exit
The fleet management company’s decision to withdraw its New York IPO after raising $1.3 billion privately delays a potential liquidity event for the struggling Tel Aviv-listed R&D partnership, whose market value has fallen from NIS 26.5 million at IPO to less than NIS 5 million.
The fleet management unicorn has called off its IPO, forcing Unic-Tech to put its hoped-for exit on hold. The R&D partnership has seen little success since going public in April 2021. Established to invest in technology unicorns, companies that have raised capital at a valuation of at least $1 billion, the partnership raised NIS 26.5 million ($8.7 million) from the public at the time. Today, five and a half years later, its market capitalization stands at less than NIS 5 million ($1.6 million).
The cancellation of a planned IPO by one of its portfolio companies means the partnership and its investors will have to wait longer for a potential success story. Unic-Tech currently holds shares in eight portfolio companies, six of which are unicorns.
In all cases, its stake represents less than 1% of the portfolio company’s total shares. The aggregate value of these holdings was estimated at $4.2 million, or approximately NIS 12.7 million ($4.2 million), at the end of June. One of the companies in which it invested is Motive Technologies, formerly KeepTruckin, which develops and sells fleet management technologies.
In 2021, Unic-Tech purchased 107,000 shares of the company on the secondary market for $752,000, following a funding round that valued Motive at nearly $1.5 billion. A subsequent funding round in 2022 valued the company at $2.85 billion. However, the value of Unic-Tech’s holding has actually declined over the years because of negative revaluations, standing at $463,000 as of the end of June this year.
Motive Technologies provides customers with a platform that integrates advanced technological solutions, including AI capabilities, for fleet management and the tracking of equipment and assets. Its primary clients include transportation and logistics firms, construction and oil and gas companies, delivery services and government fleets, among them UPS, Maersk and FedEx. Sales reached $501 million in 2025, a 35% increase from 2024, while recent company reports estimate annual recurring revenue at more than $600 million, representing year-over-year growth of more than 30%.
Last September, Motive initiated proceedings for an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, aiming to raise approximately $600 million. The offering was closely watched by Unic-Tech because a public listing would have established an external valuation for its holdings, potentially leading to a positive revaluation and, crucially, providing liquidity that could have made an exit faster and easier. It would have marked the first IPO for one of Unic-Tech’s portfolio companies following earlier divestments through the secondary market.
Motive has now made an about-face. The San Francisco-based technology company announced that, following the completion of a $1.3 billion private funding round, the largest in its history, it is withdrawing its IPO registration documents. The company said it would be “prepared to consider a public offering in the future, though there is no certainty regarding the timing, terms, or actual execution of such an offering.”
As a result, Unic-Tech will have to wait longer to realize a return on the capital it invested in Motive. However, the completion of the funding round could have positive implications for the partnership in the future. Motive did not disclose the valuation at which the latest investment was made. However, the size of the round could indicate that the company’s valuation has increased. If that is reflected in future valuations, Unic-Tech could record upward revaluations in its financial statements, potentially increasing the value of its holding and making a profitable exit through the secondary market more feasible.
Motive is not the only holding that has disappointed Unic-Tech. In 2021, the partnership invested in Indigo Ag, an American agricultural technology “unicorn.” After funding rounds that had previously reflected a valuation of $2.25 billion, the company’s value plunged in 2023. As a result, the value of the shares held by Unic-Tech, which invested $813,000 across three funding rounds since 2021, was estimated at just $119,000 at the end of June. It is the only portfolio company whose shares were purchased at a valuation exceeding $1 billion but which is no longer considered a unicorn.
Unic-Tech is one of 14 R&D partnerships that listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange during the major IPO wave of 2020 and 2021. Their goal was to create a public alternative to venture capital funds and private investment partnerships, allowing ordinary investors to gain exposure to early-stage technology companies.
Six years later, however, the model has struggled to deliver on that promise. Only one of the 14 partnerships, BioMeat Foodtech, is currently trading above its IPO valuation, while the partnerships as a group have wiped out hundreds of millions of shekels in investor capital.
