Shares of China-based autonomous driving company Pony.ai closed down 8% Wednesday after the company made its Nasdaq debut.

Guangzhou, China-based Pony priced shares at $13 each, the top of the proposed range, raising $260 million. It expects to raise another $150 million in a concurrent share purchase by private investors.

The company says it plans to use the proceeds to carry out the large-scale commercialization of its autonomous driving technology, including both robotaxi and robotruck services. Pony says it currently operates a fleet of over 250 robotaxis and has licenses to operate in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Pony also established a joint venture with strategic backer Toyota last year, aimed at future mass production and large-scale deployment of fully driverless robotaxis. It currently employs Toyota and Lexus vehicles in its robotaxi fleet.

Rising revenue

Eight-year-old Pony comes to market as an unprofitable company, albeit one with rising revenue. For the first six months of this year, revenue totaled around $25 million, roughly double year-ago levels. The company posted a net loss of $52 million for the first half of 2024, down from $70 million in the year-ago period.

Prior to its IPO, Pony raised at least $1.3 billion in known venture and strategic funding, per Crunchbase data.

Illustration: Dom Guzman