China's SenseTime closes $410m Series B round
Sense Time, a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning technology start-up has closed a $410 million Series B round of funding across two tranches, led by CDH Investments and Sailing Capital, respectively.
The two tranches were previously reported as separate investments. Last December, CDH put in $120 million in conjunction with Dalian Wanda Group, IDG Capital Partners and StarVC. Less than six months later, Sailing contributed $60 million. There are more than 20 investors in total, including China Merchants Securities International, Morningside Venture Capital, China International Capital Corp, Co-Stone Capital, Advantech Capital, and China Renaissance Private Equity Fund.
It is said to be the largest ever funding round for an AI start-up. Xu Li, Sense Time’s co-founder and CEO, said the proceeds would go towards R&D, extending the company’s AI technology applications in order to improve existing products and enter new verticals, and strengthening cooperation with suppliers and customers.
Sense Time was founded in 2014 by a group of Chinese scientists from leading educational institutions such as Stanford University and Tsinghua University, as well as former employees of technology firms including Google and Microsoft. It claims to be the only company in China focusing on the development of deep learning infrastructure and precise rules specifying how to solve specific problems.
The company specializes in facial and specific object scanning, recognition and analysis technology. Its technology can be applied in different industry verticals, such as financial services, cybersecurity and driverless cars. With offices in Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, it claims to work with more than 400 companies, including Nvidia, China Mobile, Huawei, Xiaomi, JD.com, Sina Weibo and China UnionPay.
"In the internet era, China’s population advantages and capacity for innovation have led to the creation of the BAT [Baidu, Alibaba Group, Tencent Holdings] and other world-class companies that can compete with the likes of Google, Amazon and Facebook. In the AI era, we would like to see a Chinese company leading the way,” said Shangzhi Wu, chairman of CDH, in a statement. He added that Sense Time has the technology and commitment to be that company.
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