The investment was led by Source Code Capital, followed by Walden International and Shanghai S&T
Shanghai-based intelligent robots developer Keenon Robotics concluded its Series B funding round with close to US$28 million in investment, according to a statement released on March 9, 2020. Beijing-based Source Code Capital led the investment; new investors Walden International and Shanghai Science, Technology and Innovation Investment Fund, backed by state-owned Shanghai International Group along with existing investors Yunqi Partners and IVISION Ventures also participated in the round.
In its Series A round of financing, Keenon secured more than US$4 million from Yunqi Partners and IVISION Ventures in 2016. Along with this, Keenon also conducted a Pre-B Series funding round in February, 2019 that added up to a total investment of more than US$28 million.
According to Keenon Robotics Founder and CEO Li Tong, the funds from the latest round of financing will be used for large-scale popularization of the domestic catering market in China, the expansion of services to overseas markets, and the addition of new business areas such as medical care.
Established in 2010, Keenon offers commercial service robots including Delivery Robot T1, Guiding Robot G1, Guiding Robot with mobile ads G2 and Hotel Robot G3. Keenon has released 9 products built to serve specific business functions. The company has complete ownership of its supply chain, which allows for mass production at a reduced cost.
In February 2020, Keenon deployed 16 robots of a model popularly known as ‘Little Peanut’ to a hospital in Hangzhou, after a group of Wuhan travelers to Singapore were quarantined. Similarly, in the wake of the novel Coronavirus outbreak, Keenon developed new medical robots including disinfection robots.
According to the company, it has delivered more than 3,000 robots for food and beverage delivery and shopping guide in 2019, and has set a target of 10,000 robot sales in 2020. Keenon further says that it has provided robots and compatible solutions to more than 1,000 companies in over 400 cities in China and currently operates in the US, Canada, European Countries, Japan, South Korea and other global markets. It generated a revenue of around US$14 million 2019.
According to consulting firm McKinsey, robotics and automation technology is expected to increase annual global productivity growth rate from 0.8% to 1.4%, signaling to manufacturers that an investment in leading robotics technology may be a forward-looking move.
“It is conceivable that service robots will play an indispensable and key role in the labor market going forward. Keenon’s robots will have a share of the market because of outstanding product performance and excellent price-performance ratio. This is why Yunqi Partners has always stood by and supported the company,” said Yunki Partners’ Managing Director Yu Chen.
