China-based facial recognition technology provider CloudWalk has filed for a RMB3.75bn ($574m) initial public offering that will enable home appliance manufacturer Haier and leasing services provider Bohai to exit, DealStreetAsia reported today.
The company plans to issue up to 112 million shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Star Market, and CSC Financial is lead underwriter for the offering.
CloudWalk produces software that uses artificial intelligence to recognise faces, for use in surveillance systems in addition to consumer businesses such as the aviation or financial services industry.
The company recorded approximately $33.8m in revenue for the first half of this year alongside a net loss of $45.6m, according to the IPO prospectus. It was spun out of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2015.
Haier subsidiary Haier Financial Holdings joined financial services firms Nansha Financial Holding and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, investment firm Guosheng Group and China Internet Investment Fund in a $254m funding round for CloudWalk in May this year.
Bohai Capital, Yuexiu Financial Holdings, China Reform Fund, Oriza Holdings, Atlas Capital Group, SFund International Holdings, Technology Financial Group and Liu Yiqian had provided a reported $141m in series B-plus funding for Cloudwalk in late 2018.
Cloudwalk had raised $75m in a 2017 series B round featuring Shunwei Capital, Oriza Holdings, Puhua Capital, Yuexiu Financial Holdings, Shenzhen Qianhai Xingwang Investment and a joint venture for Galaxy Holding and industrial park operator Zhangjiang Group.
The series B funding was secured together with $301m from the municipal government of Guangzhou, and it came after $7.3m from artificial intelligence technology producer PCI-Suntek Technology in 2015 and an undisclosed amount of series A funding the following year.
