A Tencent report that said drone maker Flypro faked its latest round of financing was a misunderstanding, says Flypro.
Last Thursday, Chinese tech website 36kr quoted a source which said that Flypro has landed RMB 150 million (USD 23 million) in a Series B financing round led by Shenzhen Capital Group. However, on Monday Shenzhen Capital Group’s president Ni Zewang denied to Tencent Tech that the group has invested in Flypro.
Flypro told AllChinaTech that they have not received investment from Shenzhen Capital Group.
36kr has since changed their story to say “investment interest” instead of “investment”.
The report used very vague terms to talk about the source of funding. It said Shenzhen Capital Group favored Flypro’s promising unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) projects and thought highly of its flagship product the XEagle, as well as its research and development capacity for key technologies in the UAV field.
The report also added that it has received about 100,000 orders globally for the XEagle and started its mass production process.
Tencent’s report quoted an insider in the UAV industry who questioned how the XEagle got so many orders even before production began.
Chinese tech companies have been caught faking their numbers before. In September, Ele.me, a leading Chinese food delivery app, was caught exaggerating its latest financing numbers by VentureBeat.
Flypro received RMB 80 million in its Series A financing round in November 2011. Its rivals in China, including DJI and Ehang, are heating up market competition in the UAV industry.
(Top photo from flypro.com)
