Fund puts $200M in startup Aeva

Aeva, a laser sensor startup founded by two ex-Apple engineers, is poised to increase its war chest by $200 million with an investment by a Hong Kongbased hedge fund ahead of its public listing via a reverse merger.

The funding from Sylebra Capital Management is expected to boost the total proceeds from Aeva’s planned deal with In-terPrivate Acquisition to $563 million, an Aeva executive said.

Investor interest in Aeva is part of a wave of financing deals targeting next-generation autorelated companies focused on fields such as battery-electric and driverless technology.

Shares of InterPrivate rose as much as 10 percent in premarket trading Monday after Bloomberg reported Sylebra’s investment. The stock has rallied 47 percent to $14.54 since the merger was announced Nov. 2.

The deal with Aeva is expected to close in this year’s first quarter.