Vision Fund backs China cleaning robot maker
SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Capital Today have led a RMB1.2 billion ($188 million) Series C round for Chinese cleaning robot maker Gaussian Robotics.
Vision Fund will support an overseas expansion, having agreed to buy "thousands" of robots for its own use. Jinyi Capital also participated in the round, as did existing investors Meituan, Bluerun Ventures and Grand Flight Investment.
Established in 2013, Gaussian makes heavy-duty cleaning robots for the likes of hotels and offices. The company claims its products clean to a higher standard than people and are up to four times more efficient, depending on the scenario. Its mobile products have covered more than 150 million kilometers in 40 countries.
There are six product lines, covering various indoor and outdoor use-cases as well as medical-grade disinfection capabilities. Customer support includes an instant after-sales response system, available 24 hours a day, every day.
Gaussian claims to have 80% market share in the enterprise-facing segment. Within China, this business includes technology supply to other cleaning robot makers. Its competitors in the consumer-facing segment include Yunjing, Roborock and Dreame, which raised a RMB3.6 billion Series C last month.
Haotian Cheng, founder and CEO of Gaussian, noted that recruiting cleaning staff is difficult and expensive, so there is considerable scope for using automated solutions for simple and repetitive cleaning work.
In April, the company announced the close of a $100 million Series B, the last tranche of which was provided by Wu Capital. BlueRun and Grand Flight also joined an earlier tranche, alongside Broad Vision Funds, China Capital Management, and Korea Investment Partners.
BlueRun took the lead in the Series A in 2018. According to AVCJ Research, Seven Seas Partners and Step VC committed $20 million in pre-Series A funding in 2016.
This is not Vision Fund 2’s first investment in China's service robot niche. As recently as September, it led a $200 million Series D for Keenon Robotics, which focuses on robots that wait tables in restaurants. Keenon has also deployed server robots in hotels, karaoke bars, and hospitals.
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