Chinese voice AI specialist Unisound receives $89m

The round was led by the China Internet Investment Fund, a RMB100 billion vehicle that is sponsored by Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) – the country's internet oversight agency – and the Ministry of Finance. Additional contributions came from China International Capital Corp. (CICC) and JIC Capital Management, another domestic investment group.

The Series C round in its entirety is worth RMB1.3 billion – representing the largest single investment in a voice technology business, according to Hina Group, which advised on the transaction. An initial tranche of $100 million that closed two months ago was led by CEC Healthcare Fund, which was established by China Electronics Corporation Data, with Qihoo 360 Technology and Hanfor Capital also participating.

Unisound's product offering is based on voice and language technology, knowledge computing, and big data analysis for internet-of-things (IoT) applications. These include home appliances and automobiles, as well as smart services in the healthcare, education, and security sectors. Unisound is preparing to release its first AI chip tailored for IoT devices.

Wei Huang, the company's founder said the new capital would go towards R&D, staff recruitment, and business development. He is keen to take multi-modal and cognitive technologies into more industry verticals and cover a wider variety of service models.

Univision received angel funding not long after it was established in 2012. This was followed by a RMB100 million Series A round in 2013 from Qiming Venture Partners and $50 million in Series B funding in 2014 from Qiming and Qualcomm Ventures, AVCJ Research's records show. The company also claims to have raised RMB300 million in strategic financing in August of last year.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Expansion
• Technology
• China
• Growth capital
• CICC
• Qiming Venture Partners
• Qualcomm Ventures