Chinese autonomous driving startup Pony.ai has confidentially filed for a listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange as it seeks to raise fresh capital for business expansion, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) could take place later this year, although the offering size has not yet been determined, the report said. The move follows recent regulatory changes in Hong Kong that allow technology and biotech firms to submit listing applications confidentially, a practice long permitted by U.S. markets.
Under the new framework announced on May 6 by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Securities and Futures Commission, companies may now wait until after a listing hearing to publish their prospectus, offering greater flexibility and discretion during the filing process.
Pony.ai went public on the Nasdaq in November 2024, raising $260 million through the sale of 20 million American Depositary Shares (ADS). An additional $153 million was raised through a private placement of ordinary shares, bringing total IPO proceeds to $413 million.
See also: Pony.ai, Tencent Cloud Partner to Accelerate Robotaxi Commercialization in China
In a statement issued Thursday, Pony.ai said its chairman and co-founder Peng Jun, along with co-founder and chief technology officer Lou Tiancheng, have entered into voluntary extended lock-up agreements. The commitment will keep all of their shares—totaling approximately 22.9% of Pony.ai’s outstanding ordinary shares—locked up for 540 days from May 25, 2025.
“These voluntary extended lock-up agreements demonstrate our confidence in Pony.ai’s vision and the execution of our growth strategy,” Peng said in the statement. “At this critical stage of scaling up our Robotaxi production and deployment, we believe this commitment will further reinforce long-term shareholder confidence and support sustainable value creation.”
Earlier this month, Pony.ai announced a partnership with Uber to integrate its autonomous vehicles into the ride-hailing platform. The collaboration is set to begin in a key Middle Eastern market later this year, with plans to expand to additional international locations.