Cardinal Operations, a Chinese developer of artificial intelligence (AI)-based decision-making technologies, has secured nearly 500 million yuan ($72.8 million) in two Series C extension rounds, it announced on Friday.
Beijing-based Cardinal raised the new financing in a Series C2 round led by Yuexiu Industrial Investment Fund, a private equity (PE) firm focusing on southern China’s Greater Bay Area (GBA), and a Series C2-plus round led by Guokai Manufacturing Transformation and Upgrading Fund, a Chinese state-backed vehicle with almost 150-billion-yuan ($21.8 billion) in registered capital.
The extension rounds came nearly two years after the firm closed about 200 million yuan ($29.1 million) in its Series C round in June 2021. Led by BOC International, Bank of China’s wholly-owned Hong Kong subsidiary, the previous fundraising helped Cardinal expand its team and advance product R&D.
Founded in 2016 by four Stanford University PhD alumni, Cardinal offers AI-powered decision-making solutions to corporate clients across industries including retail, e-commerce, logistics, manufacturing, transportation, aerospace, energy, and power.
The firm, which counts ZhenFund and Northern Light Venture Capital (NLVC) among its early backers, has provided its products to some of China’s biggest technology companies such as smartphone makers Huawei Technologies and Xiaomi Corp, ride-hailing firm Didi Global, as well as e-commerce major JD.com. Its clients also include Apple Inc supplier Foxconn and global food giant Nestle.
Alongside its fundraising announcement, Cardinal introduced two new products including “Planiverse,” which optimises business decision-making for retailers and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) businesses, and “LibraMind,” an equivalent targeting smart manufacturing firms.
Wang Xi, Cardinal’s co-founder and chief product officer, said that the firm built out Planiverse and LibraMind to help address mutual pain points faced by clients in the areas of retail, FMCG, and industrial manufacturing. The two products are expected to provide optimal business decision-making solutions to segments such as cosmetics & skincare, food & beverage, biopharmaceutical, car manufacturing, and chemical engineering.