The driverless car company Pony.ai has hired JP Morgan exec as its first CFO

GUANGZHOU, China – The driverless car company Pony.ai has hired Lawrence Steyn, currently vice president of investment banking at JPMorgan, to be the first Chief Financial Officer.

The start-up, which operates in the U.S. and China, said Steyn’s hiring will help the company in “commercial growth and global introduction”.

When start-ups hire CFOs, this can often indicate an initial public offering.

Pony.ai declined to comment when CNBC contacted him about a potential IPO.

In November, Pony.ai raised $ 267 million, estimated at $ 5.3 billion. The company is a competitor like Waym, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company’s self-driving cars Alphabet.

Pony.ai makes autonomous driving systems that it can sell to car manufacturers. He tested the so-called robotaxis or taxi without a driver in California and the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

Earlier this year, Pony.ai received permission from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to test fully autonomous cars without the need for a safety driver. Pony.ai plans to introduce its driverless fully robotaxi service to the general public in 2022 in Irvine, California.

Currently, the Pony.ai robotics service is available to the general public in Guangzhou and Irvine, but there is a security trigger.

Steyn will join the team to “lead the prosecution in setting full autonomy in scope,” Pony.ai said in a press release.