Chinese AI Startup SenseTime Succeeds in Raising Capital Worth $620 Million

The Chinese AI startup SenseTime has gained traction as it has being successful in raising capital amidst burgeoning investments from a wide range of investors. A spokesman from the firm stated that recently the startup managed to raise capital worth $620 million. The investment contribution included funds from major corporations like Hopu Capital, Tiger Global, Silver Lake, and Fidelity International. Additionally, Chipmaker Qualcomm’s VC department has also been reportedly investing in the startup.

The company maintained that these newly-acquired funds are expected to be utilized for acquisition of highly-skilled professionals and R&D (research and development). With a valuation exceeding $4.5 billion, the company is well-positioned as one of the most prized AI-based startups around the globe.

This is not the company’s first success in raising capital. Earlier, the famed Chinese retailer Suning.com, the reputable Singaporean investment firm Temasek Holdings, and the e-commerce giant Alibaba assisted the startup to raise funds worth $600 million. A year ago, SenseTime raised another $410 million. Overall, the company raised capital of almost $1.6 billion.

These high-scale investments are founded on strong success; the startup claims that it began to be profitable since the last year and has experienced a four-fold growth in the last 3 years. Likewise, its revenues for business contract rose more than 10 times from January 2018 to May 2018.

The startups’ AI tools possess several modern features likes image, character, and face recognition while video analysis is just another highly useful functionality. The impact of these tools is wide scale: from their use in industries of retail, finance, self-driving cars, entertainment; to government’s adoption for smart cities, they have received massive appreciation. Moreover, they are widely used by the local authorities for curbing criminal activities where these AI tools provide an advantage by identifying any malevolent individuals.

The startups’ strategic partners have ballooned up to 700 including prominent brands like Huawei, Xiaomi, and China Mobile. Over the past few months, the startup also partnered with Shanghai Shentong Metro Group—the biggest Chinese subway operator. The collaboration focuses on the implementation of artificial intelligence for supervising and managing metro traffic flow.

Likewise, another partnership emerged with Chengdu for the development of a regional branch. Additionally, the Alibaba partnership resulted with collaboration with the Hong Kong Science Technology Park for the development of the Hong Kong Artificial Intelligence Laboratory; an initiative geared towards Hong Kong’s transition to a major innovation hub.

Often, AI-based companies face a vacuum of lack of skilled professionals. To address these concerns, SenseTime began creating initiative to attract the younger Chinese minds towards IT. An official from the company explained that they have designed an AI-based curriculum with practical projects to market AI among schools.

SenseTime’s goals fall in line with the vision of Chinese government. Earlier China stated that by 2020, the country envisions to lead the AI revolution in the world. As a result, the AI industry in the country has received significant boost.