Ontime completes round of financing

Ontime, a mobile transportation platform headquartered in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, has finished a round of financing of more than one billion yuan ($150 million), the company announced on Tuesday.

After this round of financing, which was also the first of its kind this year in the domestic intelligent online travel industry, the company said it would accelerate the commercialization of robotaxis, aiming to become a leader in automatic driving technology.

The company, jointly founded by GAC Group and other investors, launched its car-hailing service in 2019, covering major cities including Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhuhai, Shenzhen and Dongguan in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

"Robotaxi should be operated on the travel platform, that's why we are introducing more automatic driving technology players to join us to promote the use of robotaxis," said Jiang Hua, chief executive officer of Ontime.

Following the development of cutting-edge technology, intelligent online travel companies should shift their focus to automatic driving operations, Jiang said.

In the new round of financing, two leading automatic driving technology companies including Pony.ai and WeRide have become strategic investors.

Using its advantages of efficient travel platform and massive data, Ontime will launch an open robotaxi operation platform, providing industrial partners with solutions for commercial operations.

According to Jiang, Ontime will set up a robotaxi fleet with more than 200 vehicles in a demonstration operation project in 2022.