Pony.ai, a Chinese startup developing autonomous driving technology for cars and trucks, said late Thursday that it has secured $267 million in additional funding.

The investment comes less than a year after the startup raised a hefty $462 million round led by Toyota Motor Corp. at a $3 billion valuation. The latest funding announced this week raised its valuation to more than $5.3 billion, Pony.ai disclosed in an announcement.  

Pony.ai, which maintains offices in Guangzhou, China and California, makes autonomous driving systems that can be installed on vehicles to facilitate driverless operations. The systems combine cameras with other sensors and artificial intelligence software. According to Pony.ai, its technology can be implemented in a wide variety of vehicles ranging from passenger cars to trucks.

Though it was founded only four years ago, the startup boasts a sizable ecosystem of auto industry partners. Toyota teamed up with Pony.ai in 2019 for a pilot project in which the companies installed the startup’s autonomous driving systems in a fleet of Lexus RX vehicles and offered rides to consumers. More recently, Pony.ai partnered with Hyundai Motor Co. for a ride-hailing pilot in California and joined forces with Robert Bosch GmbH on autonomous vehicle maintenance.

Pony.ai has also been running a separate autonomous vehicle pilot in California over recent months. The startup disclosed along with the funding that its vehicles have delivered more than 15,000 food and health kit packages in the state.

The $267 million round was led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board with participation from Fidelity China Special Situations PLC, 5Y Capital, Clearvue Partners and Eight Roads, among others. Pony.ai said the new capital will help boost product development efforts. It has raised more than $1 billion in funding to date.

The strong investor interest in self-driving vehicles is benefiting not only startups developing autonomous driving systems but also upstream lidar sensor suppliers. Luminar Technologies Inc. and Aeva Inc. two of the highest-profile players in the lidar market, have both announced plans recently to go public. Rival startup Ouster, meanwhile, raised a $42 million round of funding in September.

Photo: Pony.ai