Video technology service provider Baijiayun raised hundreds of millions of yuan in a Series C financing round from VMCapital that pushed its valuation to more than RMB 3 billion (USD 465 million). The new capital will go towards R&D for video and AI applications, advancing a diversified business strategy to expand Baijiayun’s product offerings, and investing in promising complementary startups.
Founded in 2017, Baijiayun provides its teleconferencing technology to more than 15,000 enterprise partners from diverse sectors. With customers like BMW, Huawei, China Mobile, and VIPKid, Baijiayun’s technology is utilized by more than 520 million end users.
Baijiayun’s solutions are flexible and allow real-time audio and video communication. They support interactive small group conferences as well as large classes with up to 100,000 participants. In addition, the company offers a suite of management and infrastructure software to simplify operations based on clients’ needs using AI and machine learning. For example, Baijiayun’s video technology can be integrated with computer vision technology to help railway maintenance operators in Shanghai detect water damage to infrastructure.
“The development of AI and big data have given cloud video technology services the opportunity to be applied in a wider range of application scenarios, while providing a more customized experience,” said Zhao Zheng, managing partner and general manager of VMCapital. “We feel Baijiayun’s focus on R&D has enabled it to provide excellent products and services to customers,” Zhao added.
In recent years, the company’s business has been growing due to demand from customers in industries including e-commerce livestreaming, video game livestreaming, and telemedicine. The development of these verticals has boosted the potential market for Baijiayun’s business. “In 2021, Baijiayun’s revenue will grow by nearly 100% compared to last year, and our company has remained profitable,” said founder and CEO Li Gangjiang.
With offices and R&D centers in over a dozen Chinese cities, Baijiayun has more than doubled its headcount since last year, going from 200 to 500 employees. The company has an aggressive acquisition strategy. It has acquired numerous startups in the intelligent hardware and educational software tracks. “We want to build the Chinese version of Zoom and Twilio,” Li said.
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KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content published by 36Kr. This article was originally written by Peng Xiaoqiu for 36Kr.