Self Driving Startup Pony.ai Raises $112M In Series A Funding

Bay Area Self Driving startup Pony.ai, founded a little more than a year ago in late 2016 by James Peng and Tiancheng Lou, announced that the company has raised $112 million in a Series A funding to pursue their vision of a complete autonomous car solution. The round was led by Morningside Venture Capital and Legend Capital, both large, early-stage, China-focused venture funds. Sequoia China, which led the seed round for the company, also participated.
Peng and Lou’s early ambitions for Pony.ai wasn’t to build just parts though, rather to go for a bigger dream: which is to bring together all the disparate components into a fully-autonomous, level-four vehicle platform.
Pony.ai intends to use the Series A funds to roll out a fleet of autonomous cars in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, where the company opened its Chinese headquarters last October. The new infusion of capital will also help the company secure the strategic partnerships necessary with part manufacturers and others to launch its solution.