Hong Kong industrial AI start-up raises $200m
SmartMore, a Hong Kong-headquartered artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision start-up, has achieved unicorn status after raising $200 million in Series B funding.
The round featured a combination of new and existing investors, including IDG Capital, Co-Stone Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Green Pine Capital Partners, Lenovo Capital, ZhenFund, Hermitage Capital, Bull Capital Partners, and Aplus Partners.
According to AVCJ Research, SmartMore received tens of millions of dollars in pre-Series A funding from ZhenFund, IDG Capital, and Lenovo Capital in June 2020. This was followed four months later by a $100 million Series round A featuring Sequoia, Co-Stone, and Green Pine, while the three existing investors all re-upped.
The company was founded in 2019 by Jiaya Jia, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who previously led the Tencent YouTu Lab, an AI research division of Tencent Holdings. It started with algorithms, but now develops integrated AI-enabled hardware and software products that support the digitalization of manufacturing.
SmartMore claims to have produced more than 30 intelligent manufacturing solutions for automobile manufacturing, consumer electronics, semiconductors, precision optics, and transportation. More than 80% have been integrated and deployed into production lines. Customers include Carl Zeiss, Airbus, Bosch, Canon, Schaeffler, P&G, and Unilever.
The company’s AI inspection machine for bearings can automatically identify 23 types of defects. It was trialed by a Fortune 500 automotive parts manufacturer last October and increased the efficiency of quality inspection by more than 80% and inspection accuracy to nearly 100%. Similar inspection solutions are supplied to the semiconductor industry, boosting production efficiency.
In precision optics, SmartMore has developed a machine that can print and read QR codes on optical lenses that are imperceptible to the naked eye. It is used in lens identification, analysis, sorting, and packaging, enabling material traceability and sales route tracking.
Other products include an industrial AI platform, a series of intelligent code scanners, a smart camera, and an intelligent industry imaging system, the company said in a statement. The new funding will be used for product and technology R&D and business development.
Industrial AI has become a popular investment theme in China. AInnovation, an AI consulting business established by Sinovation Ventures, recently closed a Series D round. The company offers AI-related products and business solutions that help traditional industries facilitate intelligent transformation. It specializes in computer vision, natural language processing, and automated machine learning.
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