China-based facial recognition software provider Megvii is considering the launch of a US initial public offering that would enable corporates including Foxconn and Alibaba to exit, South China Morning Post reported today.
The company would look to raise up to $800m in the IPO, according to people familiar with the matter, though it is still deciding between New York and Hong Kong.
Founded in 2011, Megvii is the developer of Face++, a face, image and object recognition platform that is used in law enforcement, but which is also expected to underpin technologies such as autonomous vehicles, robotics and medical imaging.
The company’s technology is predominantly used in its home country, but it has begun moving into Southeast Asia, and has worked with police departments in Thailand and Malaysia.
Legend Star, a corporate venturing vehicle for conglomerate Legend Holdings, supplied an undisclosed amount of seed capital for Megvii that was followed by an undisclosed amount of series A funding from Sinovation Ventures in 2013.
Megvii added $22m in series B funding from Qiming Venture Partners and Innovation Works the following year, before Innovation Works led a $25m series B-plus round in 2015 also backed by Qiming Venture Partners.
Contract manufacturer Foxconn invested $20m in Megvii in 2016 as part of a $100m series C round also featuring China Construction Bank unit CCB International Holdings.
The company subsequently raised $460m in a late 2017 round led by Russia-China Investment Fund that included Foxconn, diversified conglomerate SK Group and Ant Financial, the financial services affiliate of e-commerce group Alibaba.
Megvii was reported in July 2018 to have received $600m in a round including Alibaba and investment firm Boyu Capital, but neither that nor a rumoured $500m round that would have been led by $200m from financial services firm Bank of China at a $3.5bn valuation, have been confirmed.
