China enterprise AR specialist Rokid raises $160m
Rokid, a China-based company specialising in augmented reality (AR) technology applications, has raised USD 160m in Series C funding across two tranches.
The identities of the investors were not disclosed. Rokid said on its website that they are "related ecosystem players," which could mean customers and supply chain partners.
The company's previous funding round, in 2018, was led by Temasek Holdings and featured IDG Capital, CDIB Capital, and Credit Suisse. The size of the investment was not disclosed, but local media put it USD 100m. This was also designated as a Series C, so it might be one of the two tranches recently announced.
Rokid was valued at around USD 450m in 2017 on entering a partnership with Alibaba Group. A year earlier, IDG and Walden International led a USD 65m Series B with additional participation from Advantech Capital. Other previous investors include Linear Venture, Shanghai Moliang Venture Capital, and Vision Plus Capital.
The company has shifted focus in recent years. It started out as a smart speaker manufacturer, offering devices that control light, temperature and music through voice-activated interfaces. The initial Series C tranche was intended to support growth in this area.
Now, however, Rokid positions itself as more of an AR specialist, specifically for enterprise use cases. The company's X-Craft headset - resistant to explosions, water, and dust and equipped with 5G and GPS capabilities - is aimed at the automotive and oil and gas industries where field workers need remote communication devices.
It has also released a line of smart glasses that can detect the temperatures of up to 200 people within two minutes - a clear COVID-19 play. Other players in China's AR glasses space, such as PE-backed Nreal, primarily target the consumer segment.
Rokid, which currently has a team of around 380, will put the new funding towards R&D and global expansion.
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