Nansha gains China’s largest financing in autonomous driving

On Feb 26, Pony.ai, an automobile company headquartered in Guangzhou’s Nansha district, announced completion of financing totaling $462 million. This is currently the highest amount of financing in China’s autonomous driving sector.

Toyota, as a strategic investor, invested $400 million to deepen cooperation between the two companies in the field of travel. It is the first time that Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, has invested in a Chinese autonomous driving startup.

Both sides stated that this is an extension of the business partnership established in 2019. On this basis, the two companies will further accelerate development and commercialization of autonomous driving, with the aim of creating products and services that benefit everyone.

Pony.ai and Toyota announced in August 2019 that they will start autonomous driving pilot projects in China. With this year’s strategic investment in place, the two parties will also explore more possibilities in autonomous driving services in addition to developing technologies.

The deepening of this cooperative relationship will help both parties to integrate first-class autonomous driving technology with first-class vehicle platforms, which is in line with their strategic priorities.

Poni.ai was the first autonomous driving company to settle in Guangzhou. Since its inception, it has been committed to providing the safest, most advanced and most reliable autonomous driving technology, bringing a more efficient traffic pattern and a safer travel experience to the public.

It rolled out China’s first urban self-driving test fleet in February 2018 and began normalized road tests.

In December 2018, the company released the PonyPilot Robotaxi project, and took the lead in operating the technology in Nansha, becoming the first to provide Robotaxi services in the Chinese market.

In November 2019, it launched California’s first Robotaxi service for the public, laying the foundation for its worldwide provision of autonomous driving services.

As of December 2019, the ascending star had completed more than 70,000 Robotaxi orders.