SHANGHAI, Sept. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On Sep. 13, 2022, Qidi Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Qidi") announced the completion of an angel round financing of RMB 100 million (14.44 million USD), with Joy Capital as the leading investor, Matrix Partners China and Meridian Capital as the co-investors, and Winsoul Capital as the financial advisor.
Founded in December, 2021, Qidi is a scientifically and technologically innovative enterprise that takes the 24/7 smart glasses as the core and aims at catering to the customers with its unique Vertical Integration Pattern. Starting from the full-link integration of underlying technologies such as hardware, software, and algorithm, and with cutting-edge products and up-to-date solutions, Qidi focuses on creating hands-free revolutionary smart glasses, which safeguards a trouble-free journey worldwide for the users.
New technical tipping point calling for product revolution
With the massive popularity of "metaverse" and the development of AR technology, smart glasses have once again come under the spotlight. Unlike Google Glass that transiently appeared a decade ago, or the last round of AR entrepreneurship mania, Qidi believes that an epoch-making revolution that could transform glasses from a mere "functional device" to "smart machine" has reached a tipping point.
In recent years, digital industries, such as 5G, artificial intelligence and big data, have witnessed a rapid development on the fundamental technologies. The displaying, interaction, algorithm, and computing power of smart glasses have also greatly changed compared with the era in which the product was first emerged.
One could expect that the human-computer interaction in Web 3.0 will be more multidimensional. As for the common digital products such as PC, mobile phone, and tablet, the real world is separated from the digital world by the screen. However, the smart AR glasses can shatter the barrier, and is expected to revolutionize the way we obtain information and our way of living, and inspire a boundless imagination. "This is probably the most imaginative and innovative product for individual users throughout the human history, and will revolutionize the way we interact with the digital world." Says the founder of Qidi.
Besides, the whole industry also sees smart glasses as a promising product, and expects them to be widely utilized in the next generation of human-computer interaction center and mobile terminals. At present, smart glasses have gained access to the market of some industries, yet there are still some gaps regarding the weight, battery life, and comfort of wearing between the existing products and the standard and positioning of the next generation of human-computer interaction center; therefore, in the field of product application, especially in the consumer market, there hasn't been a real sense of hot-sale products that have ever occurred, and a new "product revolution" is simply inevitable.
An optimal solution from Qidi: "Clever" glasses & Vertical Integration Pattern
A pair of ideal smart glasses that is suitable for long-time wearing often faces many challenges, such as the weight, comfort of wearing, battery life and heat dissipation, while in the meantime, as a daily-wear item, the glasses should be both high-tech and fashionable, which sets a higher bar on the design, quality, and custom-tailored uniqueness of the product. From the perspective of the working principle, the smart glasses are made of different units, such as acquisition unit, computing unit, and display unit, which delicately harness a series of key technologies on optics, displaying techniques, interaction, algorithm, and operating system. If we just adopt the key logic of "smart glasses" and the development model of supply chain technology integration, as well as mixing intelligent functions all in one, it'll easily turn the "smart glasses" into "a clumsy helmet."
The founder of Qidi stresses that the core is to figure out the fundamental logic of glasses and explore the irreplaceable role of glasses in our life. "The most distinctive feature of smart glasses is that they can perceive the environment and recognize everything from the first perspective, and provide instant feedback in front of the uses' eyes, while at the same time, the hands-free service that they provide can raise efficiency to a great extent." The guiding principle on Qidi's product development is to inject "intelligence" to the glasses – that is, with the users' daily needs being satisfied, the smart glasses are equipped with intelligence, which aims at the three basic properties that users concern the most, that are – flexibility, popularity, and fashion. Besides, the smart glasses have undergone in-depth innovation on the weight, battery life, and comfort of wearing, and dioptric adjustment is also available, which can truly realize a trouble-free journey worldwide for the users.
But how to make such an impeccable product? Qidi has come up with a vertical integration pattern, that is to perfectly match the top-level designs that suit the terminal ends with the basic operation system, drive system and algorithm, and maximize the energy efficiency of the scene circuit module, and fundamentally resolve the technological problems.
This requires the team to have the capability to develop new category hardware, to complete system construction, and to independently innovate core technologies, which is exactly the strength of Qidi's founding team. The key members in Qidi are from China's leading technology companies, such as Huawei and DJI, who have rich pioneering experiences in related industries. Besides the fact that this is a well-experienced and well-integrated team, it is also worth noted that the founder has successfully launched flagship products with a sales volume of over ten million, and has a deep understanding and pre-judgement of user needs, product development, and technology innovation.
"We have focused on making flagship phones all along, so the pursuit of high quality, elegant design and extreme user experience has become the gene of our team," says the founder of Qidi, "It's been more than ten years since we dealt with smart glasses. Based on our deep understanding of the core technologies, we believe that the tipping point of the relevant technologies is just around the corner. We hope to take on the role of China's technology innovator to explore a new definition of smart glasses, and make the perfect product that the users want, and ultimately take it as a lever to push forward a real smart society."
Investors' views
Liu Erhai, founder and managing partner of Joy Capital, says, "As the next-generation computing platform following personal computers and mobile phones, smart glasses are a promising product, but a bit technically difficult to make. Qidi team has been working in related fields for a long time, and mastered advanced technology and rich experience. I believe that their products will form an inseparable link in the metaverse ecosystem, and offer unprecedented and magical experiences for all users."
Huadong Wang, Partner of Matrix Partners China, says, "At present, the global economies are facing more and more risks and uncertainties, but we still believe that groundbreaking technologies, innovative ideas, and new trend are the key to make a breakthrough. For the time being, wearable AR devices, such as smart glasses, are most likely to become the next-generation computing platform and interaction entrance, and all the future entertainment, education, work, and travel may be realized through these terminals. Qidi team has accumulated years of technical skills and R&D experiences in leading technology enterprises, and gained profound insight into consumer electronic products. They also have large-scale production experience and quality control ability. We are very optimistic about their future development, and look forward to seeing the innovative products made by them."
Ji Wei, founder and managing partner of Meridian Capital, says, "As the next-generation computing terminal to replace mobile phones, the terminal device of AR glasses and the upstream technology are maturing rapidly. Now is the right time to invest, and choosing Qidi is like taking a head start on the right racing track. We are very optimistic that Qidi team will become an important facilitator, or even a definer, on this long and bumpy track in the near future."
Liu Tianjie, Investment Director of Meridian Capital, says, "We are deeply impressed by Qidi team's outstanding industry background, R&D capabilities, and execution power. The team's huge success and experience in the development of many flagship mobile phone products is what AR device manufacturers can draw on, and sets an important basis for exploring the next-generation hot-sale smart devices. We hope that the funding will help Qidi to quicken their steps in making technological exploration and setting the scenes for making consumer AR products, and become a powerful driving force in the transformation of computing platforms."
Media Enquiries: Mia Lu, +86-15021452275, ya.lu@singularly.net
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