China-based artificial intelligence (AI) firm Laiye on Monday (April 18) wrapped up a $160 million Series C fundraising round that it plans to use to accelerate the worldwide rollout of its intelligent automation platform, according to a company press release.
HOPU Magnolia led the latest funding effort, which included a $70 million tranche. Other participants in Laiye’s push for fresh capital included new investors VMS Group and Youshan Capital and existing investors Lightspeed China Partners and U.S.-based Lightspeed Venture Partners.
“Laiye has made great strides in expanding its success in China to Asia Pacific, the Americas and EMEA,” Guanchun Wang, chairman and CEO of Laiye, said in the release. “We envision a future where all organizations and people are transformed, emboldened and made better by the power of intelligent automation.
“An AI-enabled digital workforce developed from Laiye’s integrated intelligent automation platform will help our customers accelerate their digital transformation journey. This new round of funding will continue to fuel our relentless product innovation and triple-digit YoY revenue growth in the years to come.”
Laiye recently acquired Paris-based enterprise conversation AI firm Mindsay and opened a research and development hub in Paris. The company will lean on its new money to expand across Asia Pacific, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Related: Laiye Acquires Mindsay to Augment Shift to Intelligent Automation
Laiye has more 600 partners and more than 600,000 registered users around the world and has expanded its workforce to more than 100 employees outside China, representing more than 15% of the total employee count, according to the release.
In September, Laiye and KPMG China announced they had begun working on a new product to help boost intelligent automation for the finance industry. Laiye’s AI-powered robotic process automation (RPA) tech will be integrated with KPMG’s professional services, the company said, with a goal of empowering more businesses.
See also: Laiye, KPMG China Collaborate on Intelligent Automation