Chinese artificial intelligence company Guangnian Wuxian has signed a contract with animation company Alpha Animation to receive RMB 50 million (USD 7.6 million) of investment from Alpha Animation, Sohu Tech reported on Wednesday.
The funding will be used to develop Guangnian Wuxian’s main businesses and supplement its working capital. Alpha Animation will acquire 5% of the company’s stock and have preemptive rights. Alpha Animation will also have the right to appoint one of the seven board members of the company. The investment will be completed 15 working days after the signing of the agreement.
Founded in 2010 in Beijing, Guangnian Wuxian develops intelligent robot operating systems, deep learning and cognitive computing technology. Guangnian Wuxian literally means “light year unlimited” in English. The company is known for its cloud robot, the Turing Robot, which can equip third-party products such as intelligent toys, wearable devices, and virtual reality devices with the ability to interact with humans. Launched in November, Turing OS allows robots to think, learn, understand emotions, as well as interact with human beings.
Alpha Animation said in a statement that the investment will allow it to upgrade its toy business by developing intelligent robots and intelligent toys.
Established in 1993 in Guangdong Province, Alpha Animation is one of the largest animation and entertainment companies in China. It was publicly listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2009. Its business covers the production of animation and comics, toys, baby products, and mobile phone games.
Alpha Animation has made several investments in content production, virtual reality, and intelligent robots since the second half of 2015. In September, the company spent RMB 900 million to acquire U17.com, a leading platform for original comics and animations. It injected USD 20 million into animation company Noitom Technology, known for motion capture animation, in November. It also invested in Chinese virtual reality company DeePoon in December.