BEIJING -- Beijing Sinoits Tech, a Chinese tech startup that develops vehicle recognition technology, has raised tens of millions of yuan ($3 million to $5 million) in a pre-Series A funding round, 36Kr has learned.
The funding was led by Seashell Capital and the co-investor was Qualcomm Ventures, a subsidiary of U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm. The money raised will be spent on product development, personnel recruitment, market cultivation and commercialization.
Founded in 2010, Beijing Sinoits Tech specializes in detecting vehicles, pedestrians and traffic conditions; traffic video analysis and big data technology. While promoting the use of artificial intelligence in transportation, the company is also working to commercialize new infrastructure, including smart cities, road-vehicle coordination and smart roads using 5G.
Beijing Sinoits Tech's technology uses big data for traffic analysis, vehicle identification on highways, posture and motion recognition in areas requiring safety management and roadside sensors for road-vehicle coordination systems. The company has also developed risk-avoidance technology by synchronizing traffic accident data with self-driving connected cars using 5G "cellular vehicle-to-everything" (C-V2) communication, which issues warnings in advance.
V2X communication technology, which supports road-vehicle coordination systems, is designed to combine four elements related to traffic: pedestrians, vehicles, roads and the environment.
The technology helps reduce accidents and congestion, as well as cutting pollution and improving traffic flow through communication, sensors, cloud computing, high-precision positioning and other technologies.
China's V2X market topped 10 billion yuan ($1.56 billion) last year. Investments in major V2X facilities are expected to reach 91.2 billion yuan by 2025 and 283.4 billion yuan by 2030.
Beijing Sinoits Tech's traffic accident analysis technology and services are already used in highway networks stretching tens of thousands kilometers across China. The company is an industry leader in terms of the amount and types of accumulated image and video data, according to CEO Wu Ke Wei.
Beijing Sinoits Tech works closely with research institutes under the ministries of Transport and Public Security to offer visual fusion sensing systems to leading V2X vendors. The company's vehicle identification systems and big-data analysis systems have already been introduced in about 20 Chinese cities and provinces.
Beijing Sinoits Tech plans to help develop 5G-based V2X technology, with a focus on connected cars and build infrastructure, including smart cities, smart traffic and smart roads. The company is already profitable and its sales have increased steadily in recent years.
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