Introduction
flexiv chinese ai series meituanliaotechcrunch – Flexiv Robotics Ltd., a manufacturer of adaptive robots for the manufacturing sector, raised more than $100 million in a series B fundraising round. After obtaining nearly $100 million in its Series B+ round of funding, Flexiv, a Chinese business that creates adaptive robots for the manufacturing sector, has become the most recent robotics unicorn.
Chinese on-demand services behemoth Meituan, Gaorong Capital, Meta Capital, New Hope Group Co. Ltd., Yunfeng Capital, GSR Ventures Management Co. Ltd., Plug & Play Ventures, and Hanhai Plug and Play China were among the investors who took part in the round.
flexiv chinese ai series meituanliaotechcrunch
What is Flexvi?
Flexiv offers dependable, intelligent, and simple-to-program adaptive robots that enable you to accomplish more. Flexiv’s selection of adaptive robots combines industrial-grade force control. Flexiv also includes artificial intelligence, and computer vision and may enhance product quality and boost production effectiveness.
It offers a variety of turnkey automation solutions that may be rapidly and simply customized. It creates and implements the greatest robotics and AI solutions for every industry that is inspired by human beings.
What is a Series?
A company may go through several rounds of financing to raise money. It is known as series fundraising. A startup or an existing business will go through this procedure to raise money from venture capitalists. Including angel investors, or private equity firms in exchange for equity ownership in the business.
The term series funding comes from the fact that a firm typically goes through numerous rounds of fundraising. Each of these is referred to as a “series.” The various funding tiers often correspond to various phases of the company’s expansion and development.
A business may go through a Series A fundraising round to assist in the development and introduction of its product. Series B funding round to grow its operations. Series C funding round to assist in the entry into new markets.
Each round of fundraising often entails the selling of a bigger amount of the business’s equity. It’s with the conditions of the round are influenced by the valuation of the firm, the needs of the company, and also the objectives of the investors. flexiv chinese ai series meituanliaotechcrunch The series investment aims to give the business the money it needs to expand and develop. It also aims at giving investors a chance to profit from the company’s potential success.
What do you understand by the term AI?
Artificial intelligence, sometimes known as AI, is the imitation of human intellect in robots. It is to create and carry out tasks that normally need intelligence akin to that of a human. Such as speech recognition, language translation, visual perception, and also decision-making.
There are two primary categories of artificial intelligence:
1. Narrow AI – The purpose of this creation is to carry out a single task, and general AI. It is capable of carrying out a variety of activities. The majority of AI systems in use today are narrow AI systems, but engineers and academics are working hard to create general AI.
We use large volumes of data and methods to train AI systems. As they are exposed to more data over time, they get better. AI aims to develop machines that are faster, more accurate, and also more efficient than people in jobs.
In the upcoming years, artificial intelligence (AI) is to play an increasingly significant role in our daily lives. It has the potential to change a variety of industries, including healthcare, banking, as well as transportation.
Who Is Meituan?
A platform for on-demand internet services, such as food delivery, hotel and also vacation booking, and local services like cleaning and cinema tickets, is run by the Chinese technology company Meituan. Since its founding in 2010, Meituan has expanded quickly to rank among the biggest Chinese online platforms of its kind.
It provides services to hundreds of millions of users in thousands of Chinese cities. The business has now entered more Asian markets, including Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Meituan went public in 2018 and is currently trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Over $100M Raised by Flexiv, China’s Adaptive Robot Makers
Robotics manufacturers are generating a lot of interest from investors. As businesses around the world attempt to automate their supply chains and production lines. The newest to receive funding is Flexiv, which secured a Series B round. The investments totaling more than $100 million from parties including China’s largest provider of on-demand services, Meituan.
In addition to Plug and Play’s China and U.S. ventures, other significant investors in the strategic round include the Chinese venture capital firm Meta Capital, the important Chinese agricultural company New Hope Group, the private equity firm Longwood, Jack Ma’s YF Capital, also the well-known Chinese venture capital firms Gaorong Capital and GSR Ventures, and the Chinese venture capital firm Meta Capital. The additional round increased the startup’s total financing raised to over $120 million.
Two-thirds of the business’s workforce is based in China, which is typical for AI startups led by Chinese founders who have worked as well as studied in the United States. The company has offices in numerous important Chinese cities and California.
Alumnus of Stanford University’s Biomimetics and Dexterous Manipulation Lab Wang Shiquan launched Flexiv in 2016 with a focus on creating adaptable robots for the manufacturing sector. The business intends to use the additional funding to introduce its general-purpose, AI-driven robots into other industries, including services, agriculture, logistics, and healthcare.
Flexiv might, for example, apply its solutions to Meituan’s primary food delivery operation, which entails repetitive, high-volume jobs and is well-suited for automation. According to Wang, there is still a lot of space for automation in conventional production in the interim. A new product frequently necessitates a redesign of the production line due to the high-precision, delicate manufacturing methods required for consumer electronics.
With force feedback and computer vision systems, Flexiv’s robots can adapt to changing conditions, which could potentially save factory owners sometime and money when setting up new equipment, according to Wang. The creator noted that the company’s adaptable robots are what set it apart from many other competitors. flexiv chinese ai series meituanliaotechcrunch
“Traditional robotic arms can safely carry out operations when no obstacles are present, but they are less equipped to operate in challenging conditions… Dishwashing is one of many ostensibly straightforward jobs that requires a lot of AI-based detection and decision-making capacity.
In the second half of this year, the company started mass manufacturing, and as of now, it has created about 100 robots. It intends to generate revenue by offering after-sale services, software licensing, as well as the sale of robots. Finding partners and clients in a variety of industries who will trust its developing technologies subsequently becomes a difficulty.
North America is a crucial area in Flexiv’s expansion strategy, but China is still the company’s biggest market. According to Wang, “each nation has its competitive advantage in robotics.” Manufacturing, supply networks, and also labor prices are to China’s benefit. The creator stated that “the gap between different countries is shrinking in the area of traditional as well as adaptive robotics.”
About Rita Liao
Rita covers Asia for TechCrunch, concentrating on the internationalization of Chinese businesses and the regional development of web3. Rita oversaw communications for SOSV’s accelerators in Asia before her previous writing positions with Tech in Asia and TechNode.
She had previously worked at a New England mindfulness retreat center and a documentary production firm. At Bowdoin College, she double majored in political science and visual arts.
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