Internet group Baidu led a RMB2.1bn ($302m) round for China-based elevator advertising service XinChao today in connection with a partnership agreement between the companies.
Founded in 2007, XinChao operates an advertising service that promotes customers through LED screens installed in a total of more than 700,000 elevators across China.
The company has agreed to join Baidu’s advertising network, Baidu Juping, which is present in 31 Chinese provinces and regions, and it intends to leverage the corporate’s artificial intelligence technology to make its advertising terminals more intelligent.
Although it has not confirmed the total includes its latest funding, XinChao said on its website it has now raised more than $860m altogether, from investors also including furniture retailer Red Star Macalline, Source Code Capital, Yuan Zhen Capital and Hangzhou Jintou.
The overall total includes $145m received in a May 2017 round and $9.7m secured in late 2014, according to local media reports. It subsequently secured $317m from Chengdu High-tech Zone Industrial Guidance Fund in April this year.
