Commercial service robot developer Keenon Robotics said on Wednesday that it has received USD 200 million in Series D funding. The investment was led by the SoftBank Vision Fund, with participation from CICC Alpha and Prosperity7 Ventures. This round of funding is the largest financing deal for service robot makers in China, said the company.
Founded in 2010, Keenon Robotics develops delivery robots for settings like hotels and dining establishments. It also produces intelligent delivery solutions for various industries, like real estate, healthcare, and hospitality. The company secured a seven-figure investment from SoftBank Asia Ventures and the Alibaba Group in December last year.
The firm will use its fresh funds for R&D and supply chain development. It will scale its robots’ functionalities across multiple scenarios, and cultivate the adoption and popularization of commercial service robots worldwide, said Tony Li, founder of Keenon Robotics.
Keenon’s robots are used by clients in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and other locations. Li told 36Kr that the company currently has a number of product lines for catering, hospitality, and medical care, and has shipped more than 20,000 units worldwide.
Li cites Keenon’s early entry into the sector and the company’s core technology, supply chain, business channels, and operation services as key to its moat.
Maxwell Zhou, founding member and executive general manager of CICC Alpha, said, “The COVID-19 epidemic has significantly changed the way of communication. The non-contact economy will become an important development trend in the post-epidemic era.”
According to the “World Robotics 2020 Industrial Robots and Service Robots” report published by the International Federation of Robotics, the global commercial service robots market’s value will reach USD 27.7 billion by 2023. China is expected to account for 30% of that global market, according to a forecast by the Chinese Institute of Electronics.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content published by 36Kr. This article was originally written by Lina Liu for 36Kr. It was translated and adapted by Mengyuan Ge.