NEOM Fund Invests $100 Million In Pony.ai Self-Driving Vehicles

The NEOM Investment Fund, a newly formed organization that works on behalf of Saudi Arabia’s mega-city NEOM, has invested $100 million in Pony.ai, a California-based autonomous vehicle solutions company.

As part of the investment, a joint partnership will be formed between NEOM and Pony.ai to develop, manufacture, and deliver self-driving autonomous vehicles and their required infrastructure.

The investment aligns with NEOM‘s plans to provide sustainable, hyperconnected transport across the $500 billion urban development, explained Majid Mufti, chief executive of the NIF, who said, “Pony.ai’s autonomous driving technology is already available today, and we are excited to be able to utilize it in NEOM in the near future,” he said.

Pony.ai’s expansion into NEOM isn’t the company’s first entry into the MENA region. Last week, the vehicle firm joined Abu Dhabi’s Smart and Autonomous Vehicles Industry, which will trial its latest technologies at the Yas Island testing zone.

NEOM is a vital part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy, a major economic diversification program that hopes to shift the country’s reliance from the oil industry to technological developments. The NIF will focus on private sector investment and will directly fund solutions piloted and grown in NEOM, which could then be exported worldwide.

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The fund will also assume the role of portfolio manager for NEOM’s assets and companies, safeguarding returns for shareholders and investors and underpinning NEOM’s long-term financial sustainability.

The NIF’s strategy is designed to align NEOM’s objectives with those of institutional investors and innovators, “de-risking opportunities for them to participate in creating core global growth businesses and a thriving economy” in the new mega-city, Mr. Mufti explained.