(Reuters) -Self-driving startup Argo AI, backed by Ford Motor Co and Volkswagen AG, expects to pursue a public listing within the next year, founder and CEO Bryan Salesky said on Wednesday. “So we’re actively fundraising and are going out this summer to raise a private round initially,” Salesky said at The Information’s Autonomous Vehicles Summit. “And then we’re looking forward to an IPO within the next year.” “The raise this year will definitely provide capital that gives us plenty of runway and will help us continue to scale out,” he said, adding that autonomous driving is a capital-intensive business. Ford and Volkswagen each hold a 42% ownership interest in Argo AI. Last year, Germany’s Volkswagen closed its $2.6 billion investment in Pittsburgh-based Argo AI, which valued the company at just over $7 billion. Reporting by Jane Lanhee Lee in Oakland, Calif., and Hyunjoo Jin in Berkeley, Calif.Editing by Leslie Adler and Matthew Lewis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.