China’s smart home devices start-up gets US$54.4m from Citic PE and Baidu
Broadlink says the capital raised from the series D round will be used to expand AI and IoT businesses and for M&As
China’s smart home devices start-up Broadlink said on Monday that it had raised 343 million yuan (US$54.4 million) in a new round of funding led by Citic Private Equity Funds Management (Citic PE). Other Chinese investors were technology titan Baidu and detergent manufacturer Libai Group.
The closure of the series D round – the largest amount raised in the smart home devices sector in China to date – also marked the start of the initial public offering application process in China, said Hangzhou-based Broadlink, without giving a timeline.
With funds to expand, Broadlink is likely to pit harder against another smart device maker and former business partner Xiaomi, which is aggressively expanding its smart home devices business ahead of a Hong Kong listing this year.
Xiaomi, which grew its business from making cheap smartphones, became the world’s top smart wearable devices vendor in the second quarter of 2017 by sales volume, overtaking Fitbit and Apple.
Broadlink said it would use the funds to expand its artificial intelligence and “internet of things” units, as well as to acquire and invest in quality firms in the smart home devices sector that will strengthen the value chain.
