China-based autonomous driving firm Pony AI, backed by carmaker Toyota, filed for an initial public offering in the US on Thursday, in another sign of growing investor interest in new listings and easing regulatory pressures.
Activity in the IPO market has picked up pace in recent weeks, buoyed by the US Federal Reserve kicking off its highly anticipated policy-easing cycle and benchmark indexes trading near record high levels.
Pony AI, in which Japan’s Toyota owns a 13.4 per cent stake, revealed that its revenue nearly doubled to US$24.7 million in the first half of 2024. Net loss attributable to the company was US$51.3 million in the same period, compared with US$69.4 million last year.
The company said it operates a fleet of over 250 robotaxis, which have accumulated over 33.5 million kilometres of autonomous driving mileage, including over 3.9 million kilometres of driverless mileage.
The company was valued at US$8.5 billion when it raised funds in 2022. It also secured US$100 million from Saudi Arabia’s NEOM last year.