Unicorn Sense Time raises $620m in funding round

SenseTime, a leading artificial intelligence (AI) computing company that provides technology to China’s police, among other clients, has raised an additional $620 million in funding, said the company on a statement on its website on Thursday.

The latest round of investment follows an Alibaba-led $600 million investment round in April, bringing total funding to $1.6 billion.

After these rounds of investment, Beijing-based SenseTime has reached a total valuation of $4.5 billion, making it the world’s most valuable AI unicorn, according to the company’s statement.

SenseTime provides AI technology to major companies in China and abroad, and is best known for its computer-vision technologies.

SenseTime is one of the leading companies in the field of facial recognition, a booming sector in China, which is being applied in areas such as retail payments and public security, according to media reports.

SenseTime counts many local security forces in China as its clients. The company claims its facial recognition technology in 2017 helped achieve the arrest of more than 800 criminals in Guangzhou, capital of South China’s Guangdong Province. But the technology has been controversial, with some voices abroad expressing privacy concerns.

This round of investment is expected to strengthen its current projects, Xiang Yang, an industry analyst at Beijing-based CCID Consulting, told the Global Times on Thursday.

“SenseTime has many projects ongoing in China, and also some projects linked to the Belt and Road initiative in places such as Africa, so it needs the funding to scale up,” said Xiang.