Chinese AI Unicorn Eyes IPO, Southeast Asia Expansion After $200 Million Funding Round

After a recent $200 million funding round from top Chinese venture capital firms, Shenzhen-based AI startup SmartMore has big plans to go public and expand across Southeast Asia, starting with Singapore. The funding round, closed in June, included existing investors Sequoia Capital China, Lenovo Capital and Forbes Midas listee Anna Fang's ZhenFund. IDG Capital, CoStone Capital and Green Pine Capital Partners also participated in the round. The two-year-old startup is now valued at more than $1 billion, says Li Ruiyu, cofounder and head of product, in a video interview. "This round of funding will be used to penetrate deeper into our market, increase investment in R&D, and drive large-scale implementation of our intelligent manufacturing solutions," says Li, 28, who made the 30 Under 30 Asia list this year.