Tech Startup Poni.ai Secures $112 Million in Funding

Pony.ai, a Silicon Valley-based startup that is testing self-driving cars on public roads in California and China, says it raised $112 million in a Series A funding round that closed earlier this month.

The company was founded in late 2016 by CEO James Peng and Chief Technical Officer Tiancheng Lou. The executives previously worked together on the self-driving programs at both Baidu Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google Project X (now called Waymo).

Peng, who has a doctorate in engineering from Stanford University, was in charge of Baidu’s autonomous vehicle, big data and monetization platforms. Lou has a doctorate in computer science from China’s Tsinghua University.

Pony.ai began testing its software algorithms and artificial intelligence technology in Level 4 autonomous cars in San Francisco last month and plans to launch similar tests in Guangzhou early this year. The company says it is pursuing partnerships with carmakers and ride-hailing companies, with a goal of launching an autonomous fleet in 2020.

The Series A funding was led by Morningside Venture Capital and Legend Capital. Other investors included Sequoia China, IDG Capital, Hongtai Capital, Legend Star, Puhua Capital, Polaris Capital, DCM Ventures, Comcast Ventures and Silicon Valley Future Capital.