XAG, a China-based agricultural drone provider backed by internet group Baidu and telecommunications and internet conglomerate SoftBank, has secured $46m in series C-plus-plus funding, DealStreetAsia reported on Tuesday.
The funding was supplied by GL Ventures, the venture capital fund owned by hedge fund manager Hillhouse Capital.
Founded in 2007 as Jifei Technology, XAG produces unmanned aerial vehicles for the agricultural industry, helping customers monitor, seed and irrigate crops. It also provides automated technology products such as weather sensor systems and surveillance cameras.
The capital will support work on the company’s robotics technology as it works towards building a fully automated farming system.
Baidu subsidiary Baidu Capital co-led XAG’s $182m series C-plus round with SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 in November 2020, investing alongside Yuexiu Industrial Fund, Guangzhou Xinxin Capital, Chengwei Capital and Sinovation Ventures.
The November round was preceded by a series C round of undisclosed size in early 2019 that reportedly included IT product maker Topsec, Ants Capital and Centerlab Investment Holding.
Chengwei Capital had initially invested $5m in XAG in 2013 and returned to provide an additional $20m the year after.
