Sinovation's consulting unit hits $1b valuation with Series C

The round was led by CICC Capital, with the likes of Shanghai Guohe Capital and Riverhead Capital – a unit of Sunshine Insurance Group – coming in as new investors. China Renaissance’s Huaxing New Economy Fund, an existing backer, re-upped. The size of the deal was not disclosed, but AInnovation said that the valuation was above $1 billion.

AVCJ Research has records of three previous funding events for AInnovation. Chengwei Capital led a RMB100 million ($15.7 million) angel round in 2018 and then re-upped in a RMB400 million Series A in early 2019, which was led by CICC. Sinovation took part in both rounds. In December 2019, CAS Star Venture Incubator – an investor supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences – committed RMB400 million in Series B funding.

AInnovation – or Chuangxin Qizhi – was established in 2018 to deliver AI-related products and customized business solutions that help traditional industries improve efficiency and facilitate intelligent transformation. Services cover computer vision, natural language processing, and automated machine learning. AInnovation has branches in eight cities and has worked with the likes of Foxconn Technology Group, Mars, Yonghui Superstores, Carlsberg, and Nestle.

Wei Zhou, executive general manager of CICC Jiazi, a direct investment platform under CICC that focuses on emerging industries, said in a statement that AInnovation is “the fastest-growing, most commercial and innovative AI company we have seen in recent years.”

Separately, Sinovation is looking to raise $1 billion for a growth-stage private equity fund that will focus on introducing AI technologies to traditional industries. The Sinovation Disrupt Fund is a continuation of the firm’s AI Institute, which was established in 2016 to conduct research into the practical application of AI and to serve as a base for AI talent development. The firm has a team of 350 engineers who will support value creation efforts.

Established in 2009 by Kai-Fu Lee, formerly head of Google China, Sinovation has $2 billion in assets under management across seven US dollar and renminbi funds. Last year, the firm announced a final close of $362 million for its third renminbi vehicle at the unveiling of its Guangzhou office. Local branches of the institute and AInnovation were launched at the same time.

China Renaissance and China International Capital Corporation served as joint financial advisors for the Series C.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Expansion
• Technology
• China
• Growth capital
• Sinovation Ventures
• CICC
• China Renaissance
• professional services
• artificial intelligence