The company, which specializes in systems that analyze faces and images on an enormous scale, closed a Series C round funding in the past months. This round of funding included Singaporean state investment firm, Temasek Holdings Pte and retailer Suning.com Co. While SenseTime didn’t outline the individual investments, reports state Alibaba has sought the biggest stake in the three year old startup.
Backed by Qualcomm Inc., SenseTime has more than doubled its valuation in the last few months with this round of investment. While the company aims at becoming a leading force in the artificial world by 2030, this latest round of funding will help in diversifying interests in parallel fields. SenseTime plans on using this new round of funding to work in areas like autonomous driving, augmented reality, cover the growing cost of AI talent and increase its computing power.
At the moment, SenseTime is working on a brand new servicing code called Viper. Through Viper, this startup plans on sourcing feed from thousands of live cameras, a platform which will prove invaluable in relation to mass surveillance. With this investment from Alibaba, SenseTime is looking at upping its infrastructure as well. This China based startup has, to date, partnered with more than 400 leading domestic and overseas enterprises across security, fintech, automobile, retail, smartphone, mobile Internet and robotics. By broadening the possibilities of data technology and its application across industries, the Company has the potential to provide a technological leap for a range of verticals and serve as their close partner in AI transformation.