Pony AI Files for IPO

As TechCrunch recalls, Chinese luxury electric vehicle startup Zeekr debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in May, and another autonomous vehicle player, WeRide, hopes to have an initial public offering before next August.

In 2022, when Pony attracted investment capital (Toyota just participated in the round), the developer was valued at $8.5 billion. Previously, the Japanese automaker had already invested in the startup in 2020 ($400 million). Toyota’s total stake in Pony is 13.4%.

In 2023, the Chinese autonomous vehicle startup received another $100 million from Saudi company NEOM and $27 million from Chinese venture capital fund GAC Capital.

It is noteworthy that the IPO filing reduced both the minimum value of the company (from $4 billion to $200 million) and the minimum amount it wants to raise during the transaction (from $425 million to $200 million ).

Pony has a fleet of 250 “robot cars” in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai combined. On average, of the 220 thousand users registered in the PonyPilot application, 15 place robotaxis orders daily. Of the 20 million “autonomous” trips made, only 2.4 million were truly driverless.

73% of total revenue in the first half of 2024 came from orders from 57 corporate customers, and 62.8% of this amount came from the company’s three largest customers.

Pony says it posted gross profits of $32 million and $17 million in 2022 and 2023, respectively, but lost more than $270 million in those years, much of it on research and development expenses.

As of June 30, 44% of the startup’s approximately 1,300 employees are involved in research and development, 16% in technology implementation and production, and only 28.5% in operations. In 2023, the company spent $73 million on salaries.

Pony’s revenue in the first half of 2024 was $24.7 million compared to the same period last year. The company also reduced its losses compared to last year. And although Pony this year is still far from its record revenue of $71.9 million in 2023, management is confident that the business will grow and develop.

The risks, however, cover 60 pages in the IPO application. It cites skills shortages, difficulties with Chinese regulators and extremely limited robotaxi testing in the US due to looming restrictions on Chinese vehicles.

Chinese startup Pony.ai received permission to test autonomous vehicles in California in May 2021 and the first robotaxi license in China in April 2022.