3D Sensor Unicorn Orbbec Closes Over $200 Million Series D

AI startup Orbbec (奥比中光) today closed an over US$200 million Series D funding round led by Ant Finance. Other investors include Saif Partners, Green Pine Capital, Telstra Ventures, and Renzhi Capital.

Founded in 2013, Orbbec produces 3D sensor solutions, and is known for its 3D cameras AstraPro, AstraMini, Astra, AstraS, AstraMiniS, and AstraP, which bring advanced environment detection capability and enable 3D facial recognition and 3D scanning for smartphones, TVs, robotics, VR/AR, smart home systems, smart security and autonomous driving. More than 2,000 companies globally use Orbbec tech.

3D sensors are a complicated but promising technology that has attracted increasing attention since last September’s iPhone X release. The phone’s 3D sensor measures the “depth” of a user’s face to provide an extra layer of security.

AR/VR devices use 3D solutions to accurately detect users’ real world actions and reflect them in a virtual environment. In self-driving applications, 3D sensors enable a vehicle to better identify obstacles and measure distances. It is believed that most AI systems which currently use cameras and 2D sensors will require 3D sensors in the future.

Orbbec CEO Yuanhao Huang believes the increased deployment of 3D sensors will play accelerate the development of sensor technology in AI and IoT, and says the company plans to focus on smartphone solutions in 2018. Orbbec is headquartered in Shenzhen and has offices in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi’an, and the United States.