China-based artificial intelligence technology startup Aibee has secured $74m in a series A1 round that included diversified conglomerate Chow Tai Fook, China Growth Capital reported today.
Private equity firm ClearVue Partners and Singularity Power Capital, a technology investment fund co-founded by electronic components maker BOE Technology Group, co-led the round, which included venture capital firms GSR Ventures and Sequoia Capital China.
Founded in 2017, Aibee is developing a range of AI-associated products ranging across technology areas such as computer vision, speech and facial recognition, natural language processing and big data analytics.
Aibee is targeting the travel and retail sectors and plans to channel the funding into business development, commercialisation of its technology and increasing headcount.
The company has now raised approximately $175m altogether. Kinzon Capital led a $25.7m round in January 2018 that reportedly included Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group (LCIG), the corporate venturing arm of electronics producer Lenovo, as well as Sequoia and ZhenFund.
Shopping centre operator K11 added $15.7m four months later, before furniture retailer Red Star Macalline co-led Aibee’s $60m series A round with Sequoia Capital in November 2018. LCIG, 2VC, Zhongli Hecai Capital and C Venture also contributed to that round.
