CloudMinds Named a Top 10 AI Firm with Highest Valuation in 2017

BEIJING, April 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- 2017 was the beginning of smart AI application. Amid a strong forthcoming tide of the fourth industrial revolution, AI is generating new momentum and use cases. It has been elevated to a national strategy and identified as a new engine for growth going forward. The number of AI startups continues to shoot up. Technological breakthroughs are being seen across different fields. All trends point to a booming AI industry, making it the most coveted entrepreneurial idea and the hottest investment theme.

To better advance the AI industry and assist entrepreneurs in jumping on the bandwagon of AI, the IEIC·Iterduo Smart Innovation Conference and Smart Innovation Award Ceremony featuring the theme of "AI in everything" was recently held in Beijing. CloudMinds, for its mass commercialization of AI in transforming and upgrading traditional sectors, received the annual Golden Ear Award and was named a Top 10 AI Firm with Highest Valuation in 2017.

The conference was organized by Iterduo, a leading Chinese media firm focusing on smart industries. Present at the event were some 50 opinion leaders, 100 media organizations and 1,000 partners and industry practitioners. Together they discussed the future of innovation, shared new insights and brought inspiration to the entrepreneurs still struggling in the vortex. The event made a big impression.

The voting for the 2017 Golden Ear Award went online between December 12, 2017 and January 7, 2018. Industry data evaluation and expert consideration took place from January 8-10. The award ceremony was held in conjunction with the Iterduo Smart Innovation Conference.

At the conference, Iterduo and Itjuzi jointly published the 2017 AI Industry Development Report to support innovative thinking with real data. Statistics show 353 AI investment deals were reported in 2017, among them 60.8% received a total investment of RMB 58.2 billion, a significant increase from RMB 35.2 billion in 2016. The report also indicates that AI is currently leap-frogging from "application-driven" to "business model-driven" and will likely face bottlenecks of "industry formation, product divide and market divide".

As the world's first operating company on cloud-connected intelligent robots, CloudMinds focuses on such cutting-edge applications as cloud-enabled intelligence, high-speed secure networks, secure smart devices and robotic controls. Its triple matrix of futuristic technologies in cloud-connected intelligent robots has been held in high regard by the industry and has won the company the stature as the Google of cloud-connected intelligent robots. In May 2016, CloudMinds secured a USD 30 million seed funding from SoftBank, Foxconn and Walden Venture Investments. In March 2017, it completed a USD 100 million series-A funding and gained its rightful unicorn status.

CloudMinds is keeping true to its founding vision. It aspires to become a front-runner of AI. It wants to enable technologies to go from lab to family and plant to provide tangible intelligent services and AI products to be commercialized and deployed on scale. CloudMinds' intelligent products have already been widely used in property, hospitality, banking, education, healthcare sectors and police and justice systems.

AI is growing and evolving at a phenomenal speed globally. It is permeating every industry as a principal driver of the next industrial transformation. From traditional manufacturing to strategic emerging industries and from front-end consumer interface to back-end supply chain management, AI is likely to witness explosive growth. Going forward, CloudMinds will continue to improve upon its cloud, connectivity and device product mix, better connect upstream technology enablement to downstream industry application,  and expand globally based on its globalized footprint and build more partnerships to connect more mobile and smart devices. The goal is to shape a booming industry of cloud-connected intelligent robots and contribute to a better, intelligent life of mankind.

SOURCE CloudMinds