China-based robotics technology producer UBtech Robotics has raised $820m in a series C round led by internet company Tencent, China Money Network reported today.
The round featured telecommunications firm Telstra, consumer electronics maker Haier Group, furniture rental service Easyhome Furnishings, conglomerate Chia Tai Group, power producer China General Nuclear and online lending platform CreditEase.
China Minsheng Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Minsheng Securities, China Film and TV Capital, Sichuan Railway Investment Group, Green Pine Capital Partners, Whale Capital, Shenzhen JinFuZi Network Technology and CDH Investments also backed to the round, which valued UBtech at $5bn.
Founded in 2012, UBtech creates family-friendly humanoid robots for entertainment and educational applications. Its range includes a service robot called Cruzr and a Stormtrooper robot (pictured), based on the Star Wars franchise and produced in partnership with media company Disney.
UBtech will invest the cash in research and development, with a particular focus on large-sized humanoid robots, motion control algorithms and computer vision. It also intends to increase marketing activities and recruit additional staff.
Tencent will collaborate with UBtech on future products, the two having launched a personalised educational robot, Alpha Ebot, in February 2018, after introducing a humanoid robot called Qrobot Alpha, which incorporates Tencent’s smart voice assistant Xiaowei, in December 2017.
The round follows reports in November 2017 that Tencent was set to lead a $400m series C in UBtech, which did not comment at the time.
CDH Investments previously led the company’s $100m series B round in 2016, with participation from investment bank Citic Securities and unnamed backers.
UBtech raised $20m in a series A+ round in 2015 backed by Qiming Venture Partners, followed by an investment of undisclosed size from voice recognition technology developer Anhui USTC iFlytek and several private investors later the same year.
– Image courtesy of UBtech. This article was amended on May 8, 2018 to reflect a subsequent press release by UBTech.