WI Harper Group | January 10, 2020
On January 9, 2020 (Beijing time), Shark Ninja, a global household appliance brand, and JS Global (01691.HK), its parent company, officially announced the strategic merger and acquisition of China’s artificial intelligence and robotics startup company “Qfeeltech”. In October 2016, WI Harper Group led Series A round of financing for Qfeeltech, and continued to follow Series B round of financing in 2017.
Qfeeltech is an artificial intelligence and robot technology startup company founded in Beijing in 2014, with industry-leading robot positioning and navigation core technology based on independent intellectual property rights. Through the development of low-cost, efficient embedded solutions and its own visual fusion algorithm advantages. Qfeeltech provides customers with ultra-cost-effective robot product solutions.
Founded in 2014, Qfeeltech is a leading provider of robot positioning and navigation technology and solutions. The company is always committed to expanding the core technology of robot positioning and navigation, especially vSLAM technology, and landing and application in the field of robot. In 2018, Shark Ninja, a globally renowned vacuum cleaner brand, and Qfeeltech entered into an in-depth strategic cooperation on the positioning and navigation technology of smart home cleaning robot. The “Shark IQ” series of cleaning robot products jointly launched by the two companies was launched in North America in September 2019, achieving sales growth that exceeding expectations.
“Shark Ninja is a leading international home appliance group based in Boston, and the No.1 vacuum cleaner brand in North America,” said Chen Zhen, founder and CEO of Qfeeltech. We are very pleased to join the Shark Ninja family through the successful cooperation with Shark Ninja and its parent company JS Global. We also look forward to leveraging Shark Ninja as an international platform to build truly world-class robot products through the synergy and continuous innovation of R&D efforts in China and the United States.
“We are excited about the tremendous growth potential that the addition of Qfeeltech will unleash for our company and product innovation in the coming years. Qfeeltech became Shark Ninja’s core partner in 2018, driving the company’s robotics products and business to great success in 2019 and laying a clear path for the future strategic development of its robotics products and business.” said Shark Ninja CEO and JS Global President Mark Barrocas.
Shark Ninja‘s Executive Vice President and Shark Robotics’s Division General Manager Mr. Sri Solur stated that “The partnership with Qfeeltech has driven the growth and success of the robotics business. Our partnership will lead to the further development of the business, creating “five-star experience “for our customers.”
The integration of Qfeeltech and Shark Ninja will complete over the next three years. During this period, Qfeeltech will continue to maintain a relatively independent operation and independent reporting relationship. Chen Zhen, the founder, will continue to serve as the CEO of the company and be responsible for the operation and project management of the Chinese R&D team of Shark Ninja robotics division.
About Shark Ninja and its controlling parent company JS Global
JS Global is a global leader in quality and innovative small home appliances registered in the Cayman Islands. The group has three international brands: JiuYang, Shark and Ninja, and continues to maintain a leading position in the global small home appliances market. Among them, JiuYang penetrates deep into the Chinese market, focusing on high-end kitchen appliances. Shark, a brand of small cleaning appliances, and Ninja, a brand of small kitchen appliances, are gaining traction in the international market. JS Global was officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on December 18, 2019.
Shark Ninja is a global innovative cleaning and kitchen home appliance company founded in 1998. The headquarters is located in Boston and the company has offices in London, Shenzhen, and Suzhou. The Shark brand is the No.1 brand of vacuum cleaner and cleaning appliances in North America. Shark products include the Original Steam Mop, Rotator vacuum series, R series including cordless stick vacuum, cordless foldable vacuum S1 – S9 series, exclusive villa vacuum series A, and innovative products such as steam mop and other household cleaning products. In September 2019, the company launched the Shark IQ series of advanced navigation cleaning robot products in North America.
About Qfeeltech
Qfeeltech focuses on the robot positioning and navigation technology R&D and product practicality. Key executives include founder Mr. Chen Zhen, co-founder Mr. Zhang Yiming, Chief Operating Officer Ms. Wu Xin, Chief Scientist Dr. Wu Minsheng, and Chief Architect Dr. Liu Zhanglin. The company has launched series L of consumer embedded positioning and navigation module, series Q of industrial positioning and navigation controller and other core software and hardware products with independent intellectual property rights. After more than five years of rapid development, the company has about 70 employees, 80% being R&D personnel. The total R&D investment made was about RMB 90 million.
As of December 2019, the company has applied for 45 Chinese intellectual property patents, of which 15 were approved, and has completed based on the core of robot technology international PCT patent and the United States patent applications. The company has applied the most number of patents in the field of navigation and positioning.
In 2017 the company became China’s high-tech enterprises, the first frontier ZhongGuanCun technology enterprise, and a key enterprise followed by the ZhongGuanCun science city. The company was also awarded China’s most valuable company, the highest growth in value and star startup in the AI industry in a various mainstream media and research institutions at home and abroad. The company is also Intel’s designated suppliers and partners.
Translated from: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/BJeYGqykdfzrvS6AyTbmew
