China’s Pony.ai announces completion of Series C financing worth $367 million

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Pony.ai, a Chinese autonomous driving startup, announced on Feb. 8 it has bagged $100 million for its Series C+ funding, signifying the completion of its Series C round that raises $367 million in total.

The startup completed its Series C round fundraising through two tranches, according to the company's WeChat account. The newest one roped in two investors— Brunei Investment Agency and CPE, CITIC Group's PE arm CITIC Private Equity Funds Management.

Photo credit: Pony.ai

Pony.ai said it raised nearly $900 million in total during the past 12 month. In November 2020, it closed the first tranche of the Series C financing led by Teachers' Innovation Platform (TIP), a venture capital and growth investment firm owned by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, raising $267 million.

Since its foundation in 2016, Pony.ai has to-day gathered over $1.1 billion, which were mainly from leading global institutional investors and OEMs.

The startup has already launched R&D hubs in Silicon Valley, Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai. By virtue of its breakthroughs in AI domain, Pony.ai has formed partnership with many renowned automakers and auto parts suppliers such as Toyota, Hyundai, FAW Group, GAC Group and Bosch. 

On Dec. 16, 2020, Pony.ai received a permit from Guangzhou authority that allowed the startup to test its autonomous trucks on public roads, the company announced via its WeChat account.

Pony.ai said its autonomous trucks sailed through many testing items for such complex scenarios as traffic light recognition, obstacle avoidance, car-following, lane merging, overtaking, emergency parking, and travelling across crossroads and roundabouts.

As for the passenger vehicles, Pony.ai has launched autonomous mobility pilots in multiple cities across the U.S. and China, serving hundreds of riders per day. As of Oct. 2020, the startup's fleet had run for over 3.5 million kilometers in road tests with its technologies and system being continuously improved and updated.