GGV leads $14m round for Chinese IoT player

 Founded in 2006, RT-Thread is an open-source real-time operating system (RTOS) for embedded devices. The company aims to service the Chinese microcontroller segment, which is seen as lacking a widely used open-source RTOS. It is planning collaborations with eight mainstream chip manufacturers, six terminal vendors, and three cloud service providers.

RT-Thread has also built an online community for developers to exchange ideas and access resources. In June, it launched a serviced called RT-Thread Ability Certification. Around 100 developers took part in an exam, 40 of whom passed and were certificated. Use cases for the company's systems range from smart printers and locks, to cameras and vacuum cleaners.

IoT is an active development area in China. Megvii Technology, best known for its Face++ facial recognition platform, has entered the IoT space and recently became the first Chinese artificial intelligence company to list in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Terminus has deployed IoT technology in community security, new retail, and energy-saving for buildings.

IoT systems absorb information generated in offline scenarios – such as supermarkets – through sensors and cameras. The data are analyzed and run through algorithms that direct future actions. This is said to allow businesses to learn as much about customer shopping behavior as information from e-commerce platforms.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Technology
• Early-stage
• TMT
• artificial intelligence
• Legend Capital
• GGV Capital