Tesla Rival That Said It Raised $400M Faces Cash Shortage as 100 Workers Leave Over Unpaid Wages

Windrose Technology faces a fresh crisis as Chinese staff leave, back-pay claims mount and its founder seeks new investment.

Windrose Technology once promised to challenge Tesla in the electric truck market. Now, about 100 Chinese employees have left after the startup fell behind on wages, according to people familiar with the matter.

The departures have exposed fresh pressure on a company that has spent years pursuing ambitious plans to sell battery-electric lorries around the world. Its chief executive, Wen Han, says he is restructuring the business and seeking more investment.

Workers Leave as Wages Go Unpaid

Windrose made only a partial payment of back wages by the 30 August deadline agreed through Chinese arbitration, according to sources familiar with the matter. Some workers were owed up to five months of salary, including a year-end bonus from 2025 worth two months' pay, the sources said.

Dozens of employees reportedly resigned after wages stopped being paid in April. Some took their complaints to labour arbitration in Hefei, where most of the company's Chinese staff are based. Further payments are due in September, sources said.

The departures have also created an operational problem. Windrose is now without much of the team responsible for developing its trucks, just as it tries to expand sales and attract more investment.

From Tesla Challenger to a Company in Retreat

Windrose rose to prominence by promising a new generation of battery-electric heavy-duty trucks. Han said the company had raised about $400 million from Chinese and US banks and investors. The startup also announced plans for factories and assembly sites in Europe and America. Han spoke of taking the company public in the US before the end of this year.

But those ambitions have come under pressure. The company faces a lawsuit, regulatory scrutiny, and questions over its financial position. Most of its dozen or so US workers had already resigned or been fired after seeking unpaid wages, according to earlier reporting by The Wall Street Journal. The latest departures in China suggest that the payroll problems extend beyond its American operations.

Han Promises a Leaner Future

Han said Windrose is restructuring to operate with fewer workers and attract more investment. The new plan would shift the company away from designing truck bodies and towards developing and improving software for trucks made by contract factories.

Many companies have had to make a hard pivot, Han said. He added that Windrose was doing the same. The change would give the company a different role in the electric truck industry. Instead of relying as heavily on its own manufacturing operations, it would focus more on technology and software.

Han said Windrose had already started delivering trucks to customers in the US and Australia. He also said it had a pathway to sell more big rigs, raise money, and repay workers.

The Funding Question

Windrose's financial difficulties have raised questions about how far its expansion plans can go. Han previously said the company had raised $100 million in equity and was seeking a further $100 million. He also maintained that it had enough funding to pursue an aggressive plan to sell trucks across the Americas, Europe, and Oceania.

But the unpaid wages have become a visible sign of the strain facing the business. Han acknowledged in July that Windrose had payroll issues. He also argued that some criticism from US employees reflected anti-Chinese animus. The latest complaints from Chinese workers suggest that the dispute is not confined to one country.

A Public Listing Still on the Horizon

Despite the setbacks, Han said he still hopes to take Windrose public this year. He acknowledged that he is known for setting highly aggressive goals. That ambition has helped define Windrose from the start. The company promised to move quickly into a market dominated by established manufacturers, while developing a new type of electric truck for customers around the world.

Now, it must prove that it can survive the gap between those promises and its current financial reality. For workers waiting for unpaid wages, the issue is more immediate than a future IPO. It is whether the company can meet its commitments to the people who helped build it.