Seven Seas leads $54m round for China robot start-up
Seven Seas Partners, a Sino-US cross-border VC firm founded by a former executive at Tencent Holdings, has led a RMB350 million ($54 million) Series B round of funding for Roobo, a home service robot developer.
Beijing-based Roobo launched its first product called Pudding in 2015 - a voice-activated educational robot for kids. Using artificial intelligence (AI) technology, Pudding teaches kids Chinese and English and also tells jokes to them. The company then developed Dogmy – a so-called pet robot that can switch on lights in the home and take photos for its owner – and Jelly, a commercial service robot for banks, hospitals, and restaurants. Roobo has also expanded overseas, with offices in South Korea, Russia, and the US.
Following the new investment, Roobo plans to transform itself from an AI product developer to an AI solutions provider. It has already launched Rosai.ai, a robotic technology platform that includes hardware components, a software operating system, and AI capabilities. Third-party developers can use this technology to design robots for use in different industries.
The company completed a $100 million Series A round of funding last September, led by Shenzhen-listed information technology company Iflytek. The proceeds from the latest round will be used to upgrade its technology and hire more staff.
Jeff Xiong, previously the CTO at Tencent, founded Seven Seas in 2014. With offices in China and the US, the GP aims to bridge US companies to enter China and help Chinese firms expand into the US market. Its investment areas include the internet-of-things, consumer internet, and enterprise cloud infrastructure and services.
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