artificial intelligence
China's Pony.ai hits $8.5b valuation with Series D
Chinese autonomous driving technology supplier Pony.ai has closed the first tranche of a Series D round at a valuation of USD 8.5bn. This represents a 65% increase from the Series C.
India's Uniphore raises $400m Series E
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 400m Series E round for Uniphore, an India and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) technology developer focused on speech recognition.
New Zealand's Soul Machines raises $70m
SoftBank Vision Fund 2 has led a USD 70m round for New Zealand-based Soul Machines, which specialises in creating lifelike digital employees for customer engagement.
India edtech player Scaler raises $55m
Lightrock India has led a USD 55m Series B round for Scaler Academy, an Indian education technology start-up that operates an upskilling platform focused on IT professionals.
Sinovation's AI solutions business completes $151m HK IPO
AInnovation, a China-based artificial intelligence (AI) solutions provider incubated by Sinovation Ventures, traded down on its Hong Kong debut following a HKD 1.18bn (USD 151m）IPO.
TPG invests $360m in India's Fractal
TPG Capital has agreed to invest USD 360m – including primary and secondary components – in India and US-based data analytics provider Fractal. It facilitates a partial exit for Apax Partners.
China's Linear Capital raises $500m
Linear Capital, a China-based, technology-focused investment firm, has raised USD 500m for its fifth US dollar-denominated fund and its second opportunity Fund. It brings the firm’s total assets under management to USD 2bn.
China AI gaming company Parametrix raises $100m
Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) gaming company Parametrix.ai has raised a USD 100m Series B round led by Sequoia Capital China. Existing investors 5Y Capital and Gaorong Capital re-upped.
Steadview leads $40m Series D for India's Exotel
Steadview Capital has led a USD 40m Series D round for Exotel, an Indian customer engagement platform provider that claims to have raised about USD 100m in the past 15 months.
China's SenseTime perseveres with IPO despite blacklisting
Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) technology developer SenseTime has relaunched its IPO on the same terms, albeit excluding US investors, after being placed on another blacklist by the US government.
Australia’s Rokt raises $325m Series E at $1.9b valuation
Tiger Global Management has led a $325 million Series E round for Australia-based e-commerce marketing technology provider Rokt.
China's SenseTime plans pared back Hong Kong IPO
Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) technology developer SenseTime is looking to raise up to HK$5.99 billion in a Hong Kong IPO that is considerably smaller than originally envisaged.
Horizons leads Series B for Australia healthcare AI start-up
Horizons Ventures, the private investment arm of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing, has led a A$129 million ($92.3 million) Series B round for Australia’s Harrison.ai, a clinical artificial intelligence (AI) developer.
Microsoft VC unit leads $22m round for India’s SalesKen
M12, Microsoft’s VC arm, has led a $22 million Series B round for SalesKen, an Indian enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) provider focused on sales-related services.
CMC, Goldman lead $150m round for China's Cyclone Robotics
Cyclone Robotics, a Shanghai-based robotic process automation (RPA) start-up, has raised $150 million in a Series C round led by CMC Capital Group and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Google backs Korea edtech player Mathpresso
Google has made a strategic investment of undisclosed size in Korean education technology provider Mathpresso, bringing total funding to around $105 million.
China autonomous sanitation vehicle maker raises $250m
CowaRobot, a Chinese autonomous driving technology developer with an initial focus on sanitation vehicles, has raised $250 million in Series C funding.
China robotics player Mech-Mind raises $154m
Chinese industrial robotics supplier Mech-Mind has raised nearly RMB1 billion ($154 million) in a Series C funding round led by Meituan and IDG Capital.
Deal focus: Southeast Asia’s four-trick credit pony
Advance Intelligence Group has used its core risk assessment technology to expand into lending and e-commerce transaction finance and services. Membership of Southeast Asia’s unicorn club is its reward
China's Agile Robots raises $220m
Agile Robots, a Germany and China-based industrial robotics company, has raised a $220 million Series C round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.
China's Baidu Ventures closes $400m fund
Baidu Ventures (BV), a venture capital firm established by Chinese internet giant Baidu, has raised $400 million for its third US dollar-denominated fund.
WestBridge leads Series B for India voice AI start-up
WestBridge Capital has led a $23 million Series B round for India’s Skit, a voice recognition artificial intelligence (AI) supplier for the call center industry.
China AI player SenseTime files for Hong Kong IPO
SenseTime, a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) technology developer that has received more than $5.2 billion in private funding in the past seven years, has filed for a Hong Kong IPO.
China GPU chip designer Metax raises $155m
Shanghai-based Metax Integrated Circuits has raised RMB1 billion ($155 million) in a Series A funding round led by China Structural Reform Fund and China Internet Investment Fund. Existing investors including Matrix Partners China, CTC Capital, Sequoia...