US-headquartered autonomous driving technology provider Pony.ai closed a $267m series C round on Friday featuring automotive manufacturer FAW Group that valued it at $5.3bn.
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan led the round through its TIP fund, and it included Eight Roads and Fidelity China Special Situations – both part of investment and financial services group Fidelity – as well as 5Y Capital and Clearvue Partners.
Pony.ai has developed an autonomous driving system combining hardware and software that it is showcasing at the China International Import Expo this week. It said its vehicles have been used to deliver some 15,000 food and health kit packages in the US state of California during the coronavirus pandemic.
FAW took part in the round through a strategic partnership that will involve it collaborating with Pony.ai on the development of driverless vehicles and the integration of autonomous driving technology into cars.
The valuation represented a 32.5% increase from the $4bn valuation at which it last raised money, in a $462m round in February this year led by $400m from carmaker Toyota. It came 10 months after mobile game developer Kunlun Tech invested $50m at a $1.65bn valuation.
Pony.ai closed its series A round at $214m in mid-2018 when Eight Roads and ClearVue Partners co-led a $102m second tranche that valued it at nearly $1bn post-money.
Mass media group Comcast’s corporate venturing unit, Comcast Ventures, and Legend Star, the early-stage investment arm of conglomerate Legend Holdings, also took part in the series A round.
Morningside Ventures (since rebranded as 5Y) was part of the round, as was Green Pine Capital Partners, China Merchants Capital, Redpoint Ventures China, Delong Capital, Sequoia Capital China, DCM Ventures, Hongtai Capital, IDG Capital, Puhua Capital, Polaris Capital and Silicon Valley Future Capital and Adrian Cheng.
Image courtesy of Pony.ai.
