2020.10.28 CoStone Capital Views:
SmartMore, a China's AI computer vision solution provider for industrial manufacturing, completed a USD 100 million Series A financing round, becoming the youngest “quasi-unicorn” AI company. CoStone Capital is one of the investors.
SmartMore targets pain points and difficulties met by manufacturers and the ultra HD video industry with its leading AI technologies. Over 20 years of profound research and application of computer vision lends SmartMore the capacity to give smart manufacturing innovative solutions of Smore ViMo and ultra HD videos the Smore Media. Both are under the framework of the newest AI technologies and applicable to complicated scenarios of various kinds. With universality, great performance, rapid deployability, and soft-hardware coordination, these two solutions bring AI to industrial frontlines and directly serve the national strategy of High-Quality Development.
SMore ViMo Smart Manufacturing & SMore MediaUltra HD Video AI Solutions
SmartMore now is trading with over 100 clients from high-end consumer electronics, new energy, automotive, video content production and providing. Besides, SmartMore has also cooperated with multiple national and international Fortune 500 companies, phone and smart device giants around the world. These cooperation have made vision technology a universal existence in tens of millions of industrial and consumer goods from hundreds of production lines.
SmartMore’s staff is scaling up in the recent half-year. R&D and business centers in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Hongkong, and Suzhou are just the start of SmartMore’s national layout. SmartMore will recruit more researchers, developers, and salespeople of the highest possible caliber to beef up its core team and serve its high-speed development.
Meanwhile, the company is making a presence in the international market. As multiple overseas projects being launched, SmartMore’s AI technology first makes its way to fields of movie and media, ports and logistics, and public services. In November, SmartMore Japan Ltd. will be founded in Tokyo to extend its international market presence.
CoStone Capital chairman Zhangwei: “SmartMore Speed” is enabled by its superb implementation of cutting-edge technologies. Even when AI is returning to the rational development track, SmartMore’s solid academic and industrial background will help it keep a foothold. SmartMore’s excellent technologies, rich industry resources, and its winning over a lot of benchmarking clients convince us of its ability to bring AI into realties. We see a bright and promising future in this company and we are indeed proud to empower this unicorn.
Looking forward to the good news!
Rewritten by: Chen Cong, Edited by: Du Zhixin, Li Yunzhen
The year 2019 marks the fortieth anniversary of China’s Reform &Opening-Up, once again, we meet at the turning point of history. What’s the next step for the game, is there any clear guidance? The answer is affirmative.
Our country is enjoying a good momentum of development, which does not come from the Washington Consensus nor the Beijing Consensus. China’s experience has proved that both the visible hand and the invisible hand are crucial: the visible hand, stands for the government-led reform, and would yield benefits for reform and opening up; the invisible hand, stands for the Marginal Power represented by the private sector, and would improve economic efficiency and tax collection, create jobs and employment opportunities.
Provided that we want to protect and expand the benefits form reform, three simple but mandatory agreements are to be made and followed: No.1 Private ownership must be recognized, protected and treated equally with public ownership constitutionally, both ownerships are scared and inviolable;No.2 Make further clarification of the principal position of market economy, “deepen economic system reform by centering on the decisive role of the market in allocating resources”, as President Xi addressed in the third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee;No.3 Implement the guiding principles of “comprehensively promoting law-based governance” of the fourth plenum. The rule of law is essential for economic growth, irreplaceable to protect private ownership, and necessary to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.
Above are three rules for us to avoid falling into the Middle-income Trap. Assuming that we are breaking systematic barriers to private enterprises’ participation in market economy, and boosting innovation and entrepreneurship of our society, then we are heading towards a promoting direction. We are marching in the path of light, regardless of the ups and downs of Sino-US relationship, the drop in GDP growth rate, or the monetary policy.
These principals also apply on knowing how better to run a business: don’t be hedged by rules and regulations at the beginning, pay more attention to your survival, and you’ll learn more when you start your second business.
For many years, Huawei has been the only Chinese company on the list of the Top 50 R&D Spenders. Regardless of the economy and its income, what Huawei has been doing is investing in its future, dedicated to R&D, continuously and resolutely. This provisional work underscores Huawei’s accomplishments, making Huawei anindustry leader.
So, there are standard answers on how to run a company,which could be summarized as concentration and professional dedication, continuous investment on innovation and trying harder in R&D. Entrepreneurship is also important, every single company needs entrepreneurs to push aside all obstacles and difficulties, to implement strategies and ideas. We, as investors, are destined to look for such outstanding entrepreneurs and their companies, invest in them and partner with them.
At this key point of history, a country, a company, or asingle individual, will all need to find the right path. Four decades after the Reform and Opening-up, it’s time to learn from our experience and stop “wadding across
