China-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip developer Horizon Robotics raised $600m in a series B round today backed by two subsidiaries of conglomerate SK Group, according to TechCrunch.
SK China and SK Hynix, the conglomerate’s Chinese and semiconductor subsidiaries respectively, backed the round together with a number of corporate venture capital funds of unnamed, China-based car manufacturers.
The round also featured Hillhouse Capital, Morningside Venture Capital as well as an unnamed fund managed by China Oceanwide Holdings and CSobor Fund, a private equity vehicle formed by investment company Citic. The company said its valuation was now “at least” $3bn.
Horizon Robotics is developing embedded AI chips for applications such as autonomous vehicles, surveillance equipment and other smart devices.
The company’s clients include SK Telecom, the telecommunications subsidiary of SK Group, which entered into a cooperation agreement in November 2018 to use Horizon’s algorithms to develop smart retail stores.
Horizon Robotics has not revealed what it intends to do with the series B funding. It previously stated it was targeting 30 million installations of its chips and technologies in self-driving cars by 2025.
Intel Capital, the corporate venturing division of semiconductor company Intel, led a $100m series A-plus round in 2017 that also included Harvest Investments, Hillhouse Capital, Wu Capital, Linear Ventures and Morningside Venture Capital.
Sequoia Capital, GSR Ventures, Innovation Works, ZhenFund, Tsing Capital, Vertex Ventures and entrepreneur Yuri Milner are among Horizon’s earlier backers, but the company has not revealed any additional details about its funding history.
