Congratulations to Pony.ai on its Nasdaq IPO, becoming the first Robotaxi stock! | 5Y News
Building safer, more efficient, and more convenient transportation for the future.
On the evening of November 27 Beijing time, Pony.ai officially listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "PONY," becoming the first publicly traded Robotaxi company. After expanding the offering size, if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full, Pony.ai will issue a total of 23 million American Depositary Shares (ADS, with each ADS representing one ordinary share) at a price of $13 per share, raising $299 million — making it the largest IPO in the U.S. autonomous driving sector this year. Combined with a concurrent private placement of approximately $153.4 million worth of ordinary shares, Pony.ai's total fundraising from this IPO could reach approximately $452 million.
Pony.ai launched its Robotaxi service in 2018 and leads globally in autonomous driving technology and operational scale. It was among the first companies in China to obtain permits for driverless ride-hailing services in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, and remains the only autonomous driving company to hold all Robotaxi regulatory licenses in these four first-tier cities. Its successful listing marks the official birth of the "world's first Robotaxi stock."
As the opening bell rang at 9 a.m. local time, China's autonomous driving industry welcomed a historic moment. Pony.ai co-founder and CEO James Peng expressed pride in bringing Pony.ai to the Nasdaq: "Since founding Pony.ai in 2016 to becoming a global leader in the large-scale commercialization and mass production of autonomous driving, none of this would have been possible without the support of every user, partner, shareholder, and employee. Over eight years, Pony.ai has led the industry through cycles, relentlessly pushing boundaries for technological transformation, and now we finally arrive at the critical inflection point for commercialization. The dawn of autonomous driving is before us. With the end in mind from the start, we will build a safer, more efficient, and more convenient future of transportation for society."
Pony.ai co-founder and CTO Tiancheng Lou stated: "The Nasdaq listing is only the beginning of how driverless technology will change the world — our journey is far from over. The path to breakthroughs in autonomous driving is like climbing Mount Everest, and we have chosen persistence, patience, and long-termism to achieve a qualitative leap in technology that surpasses human drivers. From today, Pony.ai's conviction will take root and sprout across the globe — AI can not only deliver safer, more efficient services but also bring unprecedented experiences, completely overturning humanity's understanding of driving."
5Y Capital co-led Pony.ai's Series B financing in early 2018 and subsequently participated in its Series C and D rounds.
5Y Capital partner Zhang Fei said: "Autonomous driving is the killer app of the AGI era. Waymo in the U.S. has already achieved a certain scale of economic model. Pony.ai represents China's strongest technical team. Eight years into its journey, it has remained focused on autonomous driving and has already achieved early breakthroughs in both technology and business. 5Y invested in Pony at its Series B in early 2018 and has continued to support it since. At this celebratory moment, we wish Pony the ability to leverage the power of capital markets to embark on a new thousand-mile journey."
Pony.ai's core technology is its "virtual driver" applicable to different vehicle models and scenarios, providing technical solutions and product services across autonomous mobility services (Robotaxi), autonomous freight services (Robotruck), and technology licensing and application services. To date, Pony.ai has accumulated nearly 40 million kilometers of global autonomous driving road testing, including nearly 4 million kilometers of driverless operation.
Pony.ai advances large-scale production and service operations of autonomous vehicles by building an industrial "circle of friends." It has established partnerships with automakers including Toyota, BAIC, GAC, FAW, SAIC, and SANY, as well as collaborations with multiple ride-hailing and taxi platforms including OnTime, Alipay, Amap, and Singapore's ComfortDelGro.
Pony.ai will continue investing in technological innovation, focusing on the commercial deployment of autonomous mobility and logistics, bringing autonomous driving into daily life, and ultimately benefiting users and society with safer, more efficient, comfortable, and convenient mobility services across more countries and regions.
5Y Capital seeks out, supports, and inspires lonely entrepreneurs, providing them with support from the spiritual to all operational aspects. We believe that if the you whom others see as crazy begins to be believed in, the world will become a different place.
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