Autonomous Driving Startup Pony.ai Raises $112 Million

Pony.ai has closed a Series A funding round of $112 million, co-led by Morningside Venture Capital and Legend Capital. Seed round lead investor Sequoia China and investor IDG Capital also participated in the round, along with Hongtai Capital, Legend Star, Puhua Capital, Polaris Capital, DCM Ventures, Comcast Ventures, Silicon Valley Future Capital and other funding sources.

Pony.ai is building Level 4 autonomous driving technology, which specifies that vehicles can perform all driving functions for an entire trip in both suburban and urban environments as well as inclement weather conditions. Pony.ai, although founded only a year ago, has made rapid progress in deploying its technology. The company’s self-driving cars can be spotted daily on Bay Area roads, testing complex road conditions. The company has also made considerable progress in Guangzhou, China. Pony.ai established its second headquarter office in the Guangzhou last October, and it began testing its fleet of autonomous driving vehicles on public roads in December.