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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, in an effort 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.
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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.
MTR Lab-backed Ensonic's solutions use artificial intelligence algorithms to identify potential faults or problems in equipment. Photo: Handout alt=MTR Lab-backed Ensonic's solutions use artificial intelligence algorithms to identify potential faults or problems in equipment. Photo: Handout>
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 Post on Wednesday.
MTR Lab's latest deal reflects how Chinese AI-related enterprises continue to attract new investment, despite Washington's efforts to prevent Beijing from making advances in the technology.
Established in 2017, Ensonic previously raised six rounds of funding, according to records on Chinese corporate database Qichacha. Its investors include Vertex Ventures China, China Mobile Equity Investment and Lenovo Capital.
Ensonic's domestic clients include State Grid, China Southern Power Grid, China Railway, China Mobile and China Coal Technology & Engineering Group. Its core team members have come from the Institute of Acoustics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, according to the start-up.
Its solutions, which identify potential faults or problems in equipment, use AI algorithms to analyse sound data, extract features and recognise patterns in real-time, according to the Ensonic website. These are already used in power grid transformers, lifts, escalators, hydropower plants, wind power equipment and data centres.