China-based artificial intelligence technology producer SenseTime has closed a $410m series B round backed by real estate-focused conglomerate Dalian Wanda, China Money Network reported yesterday.
The round valued SenseTime at more than RMB10bn ($1.5bn) and was reportedly raised across two tranches, though their sizes are higher than previously reported and they feature a larger number of investors.
CDH Investments led a series B1 close for the company in December 2016 that was at the time reported as being $120m in size, with participation from Dalian Wanda, IDG Capital and StarVC.
Sailing Capital International, a private equity fund launched by state-owned financial holding group Shanghai International Group, led a series B2 tranche in April 2017 reported at the time to be $60m. The final close included approximately 20 investors.
The other series B backers included China International Capital, Co-Stone Capital, China Merchants Securities International, Morningside Venture Capital, Everbright-IDG Industrial Fund, Advantech Capital, Zhongping Guoyu Asset Management, Huarong International Financial Holdings, TCL Capital and Infore Group.
Founded in 2014, SenseTime is developing deep learning technology that relies on computer vision to facilitate applications such as facial recognition, image processing, language recognition and vehicle recognition.
The capital will go toward an expansion into additional verticals such as autonomous driving. The company also hopes to boost its partnerships in order to identify additional applications for its technology.
Venture capital group IDG Capital previously led series A round of undisclosed size for SenseTime, though the company has not disclosed specific details.