Chinese investors have been participating in deals to early-stage startups targeting robotics, AI chips, and sharing platforms.
Funding to VC-backed tech companies in Asia has reached $19B over 458 deals in 2017 YTD. And investors continue to place bets in the region in areas ranging from robotics to AI as funding is on track to reach $56B this year.
Using the CB Insights platform, we identified 12 promising early-stage startups headquartered in China which have raised seed or Series A rounds in 2017. The startups chosen represent diverse categories ranging from robotic babysitters to drone-sharing platforms for farmers. Companies were selected based on factors including recency and amount of disclosed funding, as well as Mosaic scores, CB Insights’ algorithm for predicting the health of private companies using financial and non-financial signals.
Among all early-stage companies examined, 4 macroscopic trends stood out. These trends were selected by analyzing company descriptions for recent upswings in keyword frequencies and include the following:
- Robotics: Chinese investment in robotics startups has flourished since 2015, yet investors still see much potential for robotics in China.
- Artificial intelligence chips: Many companies are developing next-gen chips to establish a foundation for accelerated artificial intelligence advancement.
- Power bank rental: Given China’s high population density and dependence on mobile phones, startups are finding opportunities by renting portable battery packs.
- Sharing platforms: Entrepreneurs are developing sharing platforms for everything – clothes, office spaces, even electric vehicles.
Robotics
Krund
Krund has developed customizable, multi-purpose robots that can manage home appliances, act as a babysitter, make video calls, and perform tasks across most service industries.
Headquarters: Qingdao, China
Total Disclosed Funding: $14.5M
Select Investors: ChinaEquity Group, Qijun Hongye Investment, Shaohaihui Fund
TMiRob
TMiRob has developed a series of robots that assist doctors and nurses at hospitals. One robot manages supplies during surgeries, while another provides patient services including drug delivery.
Headquarters: Shanghai, China
Total Disclosed Funding: $5.8M
Select Investors: IDG Capital
Robosea
Robosea is the creator of BIKI, an underwater drone that can monitor children’s safety at pools and beaches. Equipped with a GPS and a camera, BIKI can autonomously return to a pre-determined location and avoid obstacles.
Headquarters: Beijing, China
Total Disclosed Funding: $1.7M
Select Investors: TusPark Ventures, YouCheng Capital
Cobot
Cobot produces industrial robots for manufacturing, food, and logistics companies. Their products are primarily driven by machine learning and computer vision technology.
Headquarters: Wuhan, China
Total Disclosed Funding: $5.8M
Select Investors: Matrix Partners China
Artificial Intelligence Chips
Yuntian Lifei Technology
Yuntian Lifei Technology produces artificial intelligence chips primarily for visual recognition. Their dynamic facial recognition system in Shenzhen has supported government investigations to find lost children.
Headquarters: Shenzhen, China
Total Disclosed Funding: N/A
Select Investors: Green Pine Capital Partners, TopoScend Capital, Shenzhen Investment Holdings
Westwell Lab
Westwell Lab is designing a brain-inspired chip that can teach, train, and enhance itself. According to the company’s website, the chip has applications in healthcare, IoT, and autonomous vehicles, among other use cases.
Headquarters: Shanghai, China
Total Disclosed Funding: N/A
Select Investors: Fosun Tonghao
Power Bank Rental
Laidian
Laidian establishes power rental banks in large public spaces like train stations, airports, tourist attractions and hospitals. Customers can rent the chargers by scanning a QR code and pay with WeChat Pay, Union Pay, or Apple Pay.
Headquarters: Shenzhen, China
Total Disclosed Funding: $20M
Select Investors: Redpoint Ventures, SIG Asia Investments and Unity Ventures
Hidian
Hidian offers power rental banks around China at a rate of 1 RMB per hour, which the company claims can charge a dead iPhone 7 to 50%.
Headquarters: Shanghai, China
Total Disclosed Funding: $14.5M
Select Investors: Lightspeed China Partners, Z Ventures Group
Sharing Platforms
Ponycar
Ponycar operates a sharing platform for electric vehicles. The company has over 2,000 EVs and plans to expand to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou within a year.
Headquarters: Shenzhen, China
Total Disclosed Funding: $29M
Select Investors: OPPO Electronics Corp., Guoxin International Investment, Zhongzhiyuan Group
Wujie Space
Wujie Space operates an office-sharing platform for startups to rent conference rooms, living rooms, game rooms, meditation rooms, book cabinets, and gyms. Other services include training, public relations, headhunting, and financial services.
Headquarters: Beijing, China
Total Disclosed Funding: $14.5M
Select Investors: Matrix Partners China, ChinaEquity Group
Dora’s Dream
Dora’s Dream operates a women’s clothing-sharing platform for daily living and special occasions. Users can register for memberships up to 12 months long and up to 9 clothing pieces per month.
Headquarters: Chengdu, China
Total Disclosed Funding: $12M
Select Investors: Legend Capital, Shanghai La Chapelle Fashion
FarmFriend
FarmFriend operates an agricultural drone-sharing platform, allowing farmers to increase crop yield with drone technology without having to purchase the drone outright.
Headquarters: Beijing, China
Total Disclosed Funding: $10.4M
Select Investors: GGV Capital, ZhenFund, Shunwei Capital Partners