SHANGHAI, Sept. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Keenon Robotics Co., Ltd, a leader in service robotics, today announced $200M in Series D funding, led by Softbank Vision Fund 2*, followed by CICC ALPHA and Prosperity7 Ventures (the diversified growth fund of Aramco Ventures). So far, this round is also the largest round of funding in the service robot field. China Renaissance is the exclusive financial advisor for this financing.
Founded in 2010, Keenon is an artificial intelligence company dedicated to providing intelligent delivery solutions globally. Its cutting-edge technologies and products have quickly become a must-have for an array of industries such as real estate, healthcare, and hospitality. As the world continues to look for ways to automate processes as a means to ensure safety, efficiency, and productivity, service robots are proving to be a successful solution to business needs.
Keenon will use the funding to "drive innovation through its in-house R&D to provide new, efficient, and cost saving applications, while scaling its current robot platform through the expansion in new markets and identifying new prospects to promote growth and boost revenue," Tony Li, founder of Keenon Robotics.
Keenon currently has reached the markets in America, Europe, South Korea, and Singapore. By capitalizing on the strong relationships with its investors, Keenon focuses on building long-term value for the company by exploring new markets, trends, and customers.
Kentaro Matsui, Managing Director at SoftBank Group, former Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, said: "We believe robotic solutions can have a profound impact across the services industry by assisting with repetitive, tedious workflows. Using AI and machine learning, combined with advanced manufacturing capabilities, Keenon is building innovative robotics to help increase productivity for restaurants, hotels, and hospitals in China and globally. We are pleased to partner with Li Tong and the Keenon team to support their mission of driving the smart autonomous delivery revolution."
Maxwell Zhou, member of the founding team and executive general manager of CICC ALPHA said: The COVID-19 epidemic has significantly changed the way of communication. The non-contact economy will become an important development trend in the post-epidemic era. With the continuous maturity of positioning and navigation technologies such as laser SLAM and visual SLAM, commercial service robots represented by food delivery robots will usher in an explosion.
Keenon has been deeply involved in the commercial service robot track. Starting from the food delivery scenario, Keenon has gradually expand its application in hotels, KTVs, hospitals, and other scenarios, and continuously enlarge the scope of its industry-leading advantages. We are very optimistic about the future development prospects of Keenon Robotics.
Aysar Tayeb, Executive Managing Director of Prosperity7 Ventures, said, "The intersection of traditional automation with AI unlocks various new applications for robotics beyond typical repetitive tasks. Keenon is leading integrating robots into the services industry, with various interesting applications. We are looking forward to support bringing these robots into Saudi Arabia, and help Keenon expand their rapidly growing global footprint."
