MTR Lab backs AI start-up Ensonic in first mainland Chinese investment

MTR Lab, the venture capital arm of Hong Kong rail operator MTR Corp, has invested an undisclosed amount in Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company Ensonic to help the firm expand overseas.

Beijing-based Ensonic is a seven-year-old start-up that produces AI-powered acoustic-detection systems used for equipment quality control and maintenance, the two firms said in a statement on Tuesday. This marks MTR Lab’s first investment in a mainland Chinese company.

The deal is “more than an investment” because it is also “a commitment to collaborate” and advance development of the firm’s AI-based acoustic detection technology, MTR Lab managing director Michael Chan Ting-bond said in the statement.

He said MTR Lab also hopes to “align with the national strategy” of developing “new quality productive forces” – a term introduced by President Xi Jinping in September last year to describe productivity gains driven by technological innovation.

Over the next three years, Ensonic plans to expand into the rail transport markets of Singapore and Japan, as well as the power grid sectors in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, founder and chief executive Dong Liang Ding said in a statement to the South China Morning Post on Wednesday.