Artificial intelligence startup Kneron raises $18 million; announces 3D AI solution launch

Kneron, a Shenzhen, China-based artificial intelligence chip maker, announced today the completion of their series A1 financing of US$18 million led by Horizons Ventures. The company also revealed that a breakthrough 3D AI solution will be launched in the second half of this year.

In November 2017, Kneron’s finished the series A round of investments, includi Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, CDIB, Himax Technologies, Inc, Qualcomm, Thundersoft, Sequoia Capital (its sub funds: Cloudatlas), and CYZONE. The company has raised over $33 million in funding to date.

Founded in 2015 by Albert Liu, the startup is a leading provider of edge artificial intelligence (AI) solutions by moving part of the AI computing power from the cloud to edge devices to perform real-time AI recognition, inference, and analysis without connecting to the cloud. It is dedicated to the design and development of integrated software and hardware edge AI solutions for smart home, smart surveillance, smartphones, robots, drones, and IoT devices.

Barely two years old, the startup already has partners and customers around the world, and has provided customized solutions for home appliances, surveillance systems, and smartphones to several international companies. Its products can be applied in smart Internet of Things(IoT), internet of vehicles(IoV), security, unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) and many other fields.

Horizons Ventures is a venture capital firm founded by Mr. Ka-shing Li. Horizons Ventures is an investor in many disruptive companies, including Deepmind, Siri, improbable, VIV, Skype, Facebook, and Zoom, during the early stage of their development.

Kneron’s solutions include a dedicated AI Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which provides high computing performance with low power consumption. This specialized AI processor will create endless possibilities for AI applications. Albert Liu, Kneron’s founder and CEO, said, “We are honored to be supported by Mr. Ka-shing Li, and we are confident to become the next company to lead the industry in innovation.”

“Kneron’s leading technologies include complete edge AI solutions, integrated visual and voice recognition AI solutions, and breakthrough 3D AI solutions that will be launched in the second half of this year. With this new round of funding, we plan to accelerate our product development and collaborate with strategic partners to implement vertical industrial applications, focusing in three major areas: smart home, smart surveillance and smartphones,” said Albert.

Edge AI will be key to modern day AI applications by offering fast, efficient and safe AI processing solutions. Horizons Ventures’ Jonathan Tam said: “Kneron offers revolutionary edge AI solutions which integrate software and hardware seamlessly. We believe that Kneron will continue to develop its edge AI technologies, deepen AI applications in diversified fields, and make AI accessible to everyone.”