Chinese AI start-up AInnovation raises $59m
Beijing-based artificial intelligence (AI) solutions provider AInnovation has raised RMB400 million ($58.9 million) in Series A funding led by CICC Alpha, a subsidiary of China International Capital Corporation.
Other participants include Chengwei Capital and Sinovation Ventures, which has supported AInnovation through its incubator AI Institute since its founding last March.
AInnovation focuses on delivering business-to-business solutions for corporate clients in retail, manufacturing and finance. The company focuses on computer vision, machine learning platforms, and natural language processing, with the aim of delivering high-performance, flexible solutions for intelligent perception, cognition and decision-making analysis applications.
It counts supermarket chain Yonghui Superstores, Carlsberg Group, Foxconn Technology Group, China Everbright Bank and China Minsheng Bank as clients, and claims to have generated RMB100 million in revenue in the first ten months of 2018.
"AI is in the early stages of moving from the laboratory to the market; the competitive landscape now tilts toward commercialization," said Joseph Liang, chairman of CICC Alpha, in a statement. "Firms with the knowledge of how to transform AI technologies into competitive products will be the ultimate winners. AInnovation's products and solutions have received enthusiastic acceptance by the market, and we believe the company will grow faster and stronger following the new round of investment."
Chinese AI companies saw a surge in investment last year, growing from $1.06 billion in 2017 to $4.8 billion in 2018, according to AVCJ Research. The boom has been attributed to a government push to develop cutting edge technologies as well as increasing difficulties around participating in late-stage rounds in other technology verticals due to high valuations.
Other recent investments in this space include a $60 million Series A last November for Aibee, an AI software developer backed by Sequoia Capital China, Lenovo Capital, and K2VC, among others.
More on Greater China
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.