Pony.ai, one of China’s leading autonomous driving developers, files for US IPO

Last night, Pony.ai, one of China’s most prominent names in autonomous driving and robotaxi rides, filed an IPO prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If approved, the robotaxi company intends to trade on the Nasdaq.

Pony.ai Inc. is a technology company founded in 2016 specializing in fully autonomous mobility. Its robotaxi development has risen to prominence with support from partnerships with global OEMs like Toyota, GAC Group, and NIO Capital.

One year ago, Pony.ai announced it had garnered a $100 million investment from the NEOM Investment Fund (NIF) as part of a new joint venture to bring robotaxi rides to Saudi Arabia.

In its native China, Pony.ai became the first to commercialize autonomous taxi services in local cities like Beijing and Guangzhou. It was also one of the first companies licensed to operate in other tier-1 cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen. It has since expanded to US cities like Tucson, Arizona.

With global operations expanding on new continents, Pony.ai has decided to go public on the US stock market and has officially filed for an IPO.

Pony.ai files for US IPO after recording huge revenues

Pony.ai submitted Form F-1 registration statement for an IPO to the SEC on October 17, 2024, which entails the sale of Class A ordinary shares on the US stock market. Per the document, Pony.ai is looking to launch the IPO “as soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.”

If and when the IPO is approved, Pony.ai intends to trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “PONY.” However, the size of the company’s initial Class A shares offering remains unknown. Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Huatai Securities, Merrill Lynch, and Tiger Brokers are the underwriters of Pony.ai’s US IPO.

Per Reuters, Pony.ai recently revealed that its revenue nearly doubled to $24.7 million in the first half of 2024. However, net losses attributable to the company were still $51.3 million in H1 2024 but were down from $69.4 million during the same period last year.

It will be interesting to see what Pony.ai is valued at when it launches its US IPO. The robotaxi specialist was valued at $8.5 billion in 2022, but that was before it secured that additional $100 million from NEOM mentioned above.

Pony.ai could become the first publicly traded autonomy specialist deploying robotaxi operations globally if its IPO is approved.