artificial intelligence
China sensor manufacturer secures $7m
Camsense, a Shenzhen-based manufacturer of high-precision vision sensors, has raised RMB50 million ($7 million) in a round led by Chenhui Venture Partners and Feng Yang Capital.
Japan's SmartNews secures $92m Series E
Japan-based news app SmartNews has closed its Series E round at $92 million with contributions from Japan Post Capital and Globis Capital Partners.
China AI chatbot developer raises $45m
Emotibot, a Chinese provider of computer vision and emotional recognition solutions to e-commerce platforms, financial institutions, and call center operators, has raised $45 million in an extended Series B round of funding.
Huaxing, Hillhouse lead $50m round for China's Hetao 101
Hetao 101, a Chinese online education platform dedicated to computer programming for children, has raised $50 million in Series B funding.
Portfolio: China Everbright and Terminus
China Everbright has turned a sub-scale consumer-facing smart door lock manufacturer into an internet-of-things platform catering to enterprise customers. Terminus is now building out its product base
Alibaba-backed positioning service provider raises $141m Series A
Qianxun Spacial Intelligence or Qianxun SI, a high-precision positioning services provider, has raised RMB1 billion ($141 million) in a Series A funding round, taking its valuation past RMB13 billion.
Kejora, InterVest lead $30m Series B for Malaysia's Aerodyne
Indonesia’s Kejora Ventures and Korea’s InterVest have jointly led a $30 million Series B investment in Malaysian drone technology supplier Aerodyne.
VCs set for exit as Alibaba buys China cybersecurity start-up
Alibaba Cloud, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, has agreed to acquire Chaitin Technology, a Chinese cybersecurity start-up backed by Matrix Partners and Qiming Venture Partners.
VC-backed Chinese AI companies hit by US blacklisting
Eight Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups have been blacklisted by the US government. Several have received PE and VC funding, including SenseTime and Megvii Technology.
Chinese enterprise software provider gets $35m Series A
Deepexi, a Chinese digital enterprise services provider, has raised $35 million in a Series A round led by Morningside Venture Capital, Hillhouse Capital and IDG Capital.
China autonomous driving start-up receives $50m pre-A
DeepRoute, a Shenzhen-based autonomous driving solutions provider, has received $50 million in a pre-A funding round led by Fosun RZ Capital.
Green Pine raises $140m for RMB tech fund
Shenzhen Green Pine Capital Partners (GPCP) has raised RMB1 billion ($140 million) for a fund that will target artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and internet of things (IoT) investments in China.
Singapore's Advance.AI gets $80m Series C
Advance.AI, a Singapore-based start-up focused on financial technology applications of big data, has raised an $80 million Series C round led by Gaorong Capital and Pavilion Capital.
China healthcare AI: A learning process
Most healthcare-focused artificial intelligence start-ups in China focus on image-based diagnosis assistance, but deep learning-based drug discovery might be the key application
Baidu Ventures joins Series B for China retail AI player
Baidu Ventures has joined a Series B round of undisclosed size for SandStar, a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) developer focused on the retail sector. It brings total investment to date to $25 million.
AI risk: Watching the watchers
Facial recognition specialist Megvii is leading the integration of artificial intelligence into daily life in China. As business details come to light, investor concerns around this process are crystalizing
Qiming invests $30m in Chinese medical AI solutions player
Qiming Venture Partners has led a $30million Series C round for Huimei Technology, a Chinese developer of artificial intelligence-enabled (AI) medical solutions provider.
Korea start-ups: The graduates
Korea’s start-ups are internationalizing and becoming more technically advanced as the ecosystem matures. A rapidly multiplying flock of local VCs will have to do the same to keep up with them
Deal focus: India AI player Uniphore eyes post-call center world
Fresh from raising a $51 million Series C round, Uniphore's founder argues that artificial intelligence will become as much about quality of engagement as back-end efficiency
Japan edge computing specialist gets $7.8m
Global Brain has led a $7.8 million round for Idein, a Japanese technology developer focused on systems for device-level data processing, also known as edge computing.
China's Ping An joins $72m round for US AI player
China’s Ping An Insurance has co-led a $72.5 million Series D round alongside Goldman Sachs for US artificial intelligence (AI) developer H2O with a view to expanding its Asian operations.
India, US-based speech AI player Uniphore raises $51m
Asian VCs have backed a $51 million Series C round for Uniphore, an India and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) developer focused on speech recognition.
Japan Post Capital leads $29m Series E for SmartNews
Tokyo-based news app operator SmartNews is said to have achieved unicorn status following a JPY3.1 billion ($29.2 million) Series E round led by Japan Post Capital.
SoftBank expects at least $108b for second Vision Fund
SoftBank Group is set to establish its second Vision Fund focused on artificial intelligence (AI) with about $108 billion in initial commitments.