Terminus Group, which leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) to provide smart city solutions, has pocketed 2 billion yuan ($276.4 million) in a Series D round co-led by AL Capital, a single-family office backed by Australian luxury property developer Aqualand Group.
Co-led by Chinese investment firm Yangming Equity Investment Fund, the round also saw the participation of several state-affiliated investors including the National Development and Reform Commission’s investment platform; Futian Capital; and an investment platform backed by Nanchang municipal government, among others.
Other investors joining the round included Shanghai-listed commercial real estate firm Gemdale Corporation, Hong Kong-listed financial conglomerate China Everbright Limited, and AI firm SenseTime, according to a company release on Tuesday.
Incubated by Everbright in 2015, Terminus Group offers AIoT platforms and edge computing solutions to help digitalise and improve the operations of buildings, communities, hospitals, and campuses, among others, as well as patrol and service robots.
The Beijing-headquartered firm will use the proceeds to expand the application of multimodal large language models (MLLMs), which can analyse and generate multiple modalities including text, images, audio, or even video.
Previously, the firm sealed its 2-billion-yuan ($283 million) Series C1 round led by CEL in August 2019. Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, real estate developer Wanda Group, and voice recognition technology developer iFlytek also participated in the C1 round.
China has taken up a leading position in the global development of the AIoT industry, with a global market share of 23.5% in 2022, according to a report published by Zillion Intelligence.
The research firm expects China’s market share to rise to 24.7% in 2023.