Xiaomi backed electric scooters manufacturer Ninebot receives USD 100M for Series C
Ninebot
Founder: Gao Lufeng
Founded in: 2012
Financing status: RMB 661 million (USD 100 million) for Series C financing in 2017
Xiaomi backed electric scooters manufacturer, Ninebot, received USD 100 million for Series C on October 20 for global expansions.
Ninebot is an electric scooters manufacturer that focuses on research and development, design, manufacturing, distribution, and sales of short-distance transportation products. It also supports its partners with mobile robotics solutions.
Ninebot strategically merged with its American rival, Segway, in 2015. Segway owns more than 250 retail points in 80 countries. The combined company has hubs in the U.S., Netherlands, and Beijing as well as manufacturing centers in the U.S. and China. Besides providing customers with electric scooters and other personal transportation robots, the company also tries to connect robotics solutions to smart phones and integrate existing technologies and future concepts, such as artificial intelligence, voice interaction, and facial recognition with its robotics products.
So far, Ninebot has received financing funding from a group of investors, including Sequoia Capital, Xiaomi and ShunWei Capital. This new financing round was from an entity owned by SDIC, a professional private equity management institution in China, and a Shenzhen based innovation industry firm. The capital will be used to invest in global expansion plans, as well as in the research and development of personal transportation products.
Industrial products purchasing platform VIPMRO receives USD 17M for Series B
VIPMRO
Founder: Yan Zhang
Founded in: 2014
Financing status: RMB 11o million (USD 17 million) for Series B financing in 2017
Industrial products purchasing platform, VIPMRO, received USD 17 million for Series B on October 20 to recruit more talent to expand its team.
VIPMRO is a one-stop industrial products purchasing service platform that provides MRO industrial and B2B electricity suppliers with professional industrial products. There are currently more than 1.5 million SKU (Stock Keeping Units) available on its platform for eight categories, including electrical engineering, tools, labor protection, office cleaning products, measuring equipment, mechanical parts, and so on.
Founded in 2014 in Suzhou, it has reached strategic cooperation with more than 100 local and overseas brands, and has served over one thousand micro and small enterprises.
VIPMRO’s existing investors include SR Capital, Empower Investment, and Weiguang Venture And Investment, among others. This Series B financing round was led by Yunqi Capital and Puhua Capital, with existing investor, Weiguang Venture And Investment participating. The company plans to use the funds to recruit more talents, as well as invest in building a supply chain.
（Top photo from Ninebot.com）
