SoundAI Completes Series B Funding of 200 Million RMB

On Dec. 29, SoundAI, a Chinese tech startup that develops acoustics-focused artificial intelligence (AI) technology, has completed its Series B round of financing worth 200 million yuan ($29 million). Investors include InnoVen Capital and Zhongguancun Bank, led by Addor Capital.

The company raised 100 million yuan ($15 million) in its series A funding on Oct. 30, 2017, from investors including tech giant Baidu and wealth management firm A Plus Capital.

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Founded in April 2016, SoundAI is a startup that specializes in acoustics frontier technology and artificial intelligence interaction. Its mission is to “connect the future with sound,” and holds a vision of creating a “freer human-machine interconnection.”

“Far-field voice interaction is the most natural way of communication, bringing favorable user experience to homes, vehicles, as well as education, medical and financial industries,” says Li Dan, the investment director of Addor Capital.

The tech team of SoundAI comes from scientific research institutions and enterprises such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tencent, and Dolby Laboratories. Their technologies have been widely used in products made by companies like Huawei, Xiaomi, Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence and Internet of Things, the company is believed to have a broader prospect of development.

Chen Xiaoliang, founder and CEO of SoundAI, said that the demand for smart speakers have always existed, with a better market situation next year.

Featured photo credit to soundai.com