Autonomous driving company Pony.ai has raised $400 million from Toyota Motor Corporation to expand the two companies’ collaboration in mobility services. The investment comes as an extension of a business partnership that was formed between Pony.ai and Toyota in 2019. Both companies plan to advance joint efforts in autonomous driving technology development and mobility service deployment. The new funding totals $462 million and puts Pony.ai’s valuation at just over $3B.

The two companies are aiming at deeper integration of Pony.ai’s autonomous driving system with Toyota’s vehicle platforms and technologies. 

In August 2019, Fremont, California, based Pony.ai and Toyota initiated joint autonomous driving pilots in China. This year’s investment aims to expand the partnership’s scope of collaboration. In addition to co-developing autonomous driving technology, Pony.ai and Toyota will explore further possibilities on mobility services.

Pony.ai has been testing its Robotaxi pilot service, PonyPilot since late 2018 in Guangzhou, China. With PonyPilot, Pony.ai became the first company to launch a Robotaxi operation and offer self-driving car rides to the general public in China. In November 2019, Pony.ai also became the first company to roll out a public-facing Robotaxi pilot service in California.