Horizon Robotics ("The Company"), a leading edge artificial intelligence 
computing platform, announced its Series B Financing with c. $600 million total 
investment at a valuation of $3Bn, jointly led by SK China, SK Hynix, and 
several top automotive groups and their investment vehicles. Other strategic 
partners and investors involved in this round include China Oceanwide Group's 
Oceanwide Capital, CMBC Capital, CLSA's CSOBOR Fund, and Oceanpine Capital. 
Existing shareholders, including Morningside Venture Capital, Hillhouse 
Capital, V Fund Management and Linear Venture, have also participated in the 
financing. The latest Series B Financing follows the $100M+ Series A Financing 
in late 2017 led by Intel Capital. In just over three years since inception, 
Horizon Robotics once again has received significant investment interest and 
support. As of now, two of the top three largest semiconductor giants are 
important shareholders of Horizon Robotics. Several top automotive groups have 
also invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Horizon, making the Company 
one of the largest investment cases in artificial intelligence for automobile 
companies.

Dr. Yu Kai, founder and CEO of Horizon Robotics, said: "Since its establishment 
more than three years ago, Horizon Robotics has devoted itself to becoming the 
leader in edge AI processors and computing platforms - enabling autonomous 
driving, smart cities, smart robotics and other AIoT devices "On the Horizon" - 
powering AI to make everyone's life safer and better. Presently, the concept of 
co-designing hardware and software for edge computing embraced by Horizon 
Robotics since 'Day 1' has become an important trend in the field of artificial 
intelligence. The key strategic partners and resources introduced in this 
financing round will further accelerate the pace of research & development and 
commercialization for us, strengthening the 'On the Horizon' ecosystem business 
model of supplying OEMs and Tier1s, enabling system integrators and industry 
solution providers, and actively participating in the evolution of autonomous 
driving, smart city, smart retail, smart robotics and other important fields in 
parallel as Horizon Robotics holds hands with its ecosystem partners. Together, 
we usher in the era of artificial intelligence."

Mr. Wu Zuoyi, President of SK China said, "Horizon Robotics has unparalleled 
technology supported by product capabilities and world-class talents. 
Especially in the field of AI processors and autonomous driving, we are 
impressed by its outstanding products and solutions. SK Group has a leading and 
solid foundation in the fields of 5G networking, autonomous driving and smart 
city. We believe that our strategic collaboration with Horizon Robotics can 
stimulate more innovation, promote complementarity and optimization of the 
industry positioning of both sides, and bring new development to the autonomous 
driving and telecommunication industries."

In 2017, Horizon Robotics successfully taped out and commercialized one of the 
world's first edge AI processors on a mass production level: "Journey" which 
focuses on autonomous driving, and "Sunrise" which focuses on AIoT. In 2018, 
Horizon Robotics converted on its first-mover advantage in technology into a 
steep ramp-up of its commercialization, relying on its unique combination of 
hardware, software, and AI processor technology for these two applications in 
autonomous driving and AIoT, and successfully released "Matrix" Platform for 
autonomous driving, and "XForce" platform for edge AI computing. Among these, 
"Matrix" has won the CES 2019 Innovation Award. Horizon Robotics' "Matrix" 
computing platform for autonomous driving has already been supplied to leading 
international automotive companies, marking an unprecedented commercialization 
showcase of edge computing technologies. By the end of 2018, Horizon Robotics 
also deployed "Navnet", a crowd-sourced high precision and high definition 
mapping and positioning solution based on "Matrix". For autonomous driving, 
Horizon Robotics has gradually expanded its network of top automotive Tier1s 
and OEMs. Partners include Audi, Bosch, Chang'an, BYD, SAIC Motor, and 
Guangzhou Automobile Group.

For AIoT, Horizon's "Sunrise" processor has completed over 20 design-wins 
during the second half of 2018, defining Horizon Robotics as one of the leading 
AI processor suppliers. Through deployment of AIoT solutions powered by 
"Sunrise", Horizon has facilitated the construction of smart cities and 
transportation networks in many development projects, enabling smart 
communities and residential buildings, supporting SK Telecom, BeLLE, Yonghui 
Supermarket, Longfor, and other partners as businesses integrate smart 
technology. Recently, Xiaomi's "Mi AI Speaker" - powered by Horizon's 
microphone-array voice recognition technology - was released, another milestone 
for Horizon's solution in the market. Horizon's edge AI processors and 
solutions are gradually enabling an "integrated perception awareness and 
multi-faceted human-machine interface."

Horizon Robotics integrates its deep expertise in "algorithm, processor design, 
software, and hardware." Supported by the Series B Financing, Horizon will 
continue to invest increasing resources in product and technology development, 
and expects breakthroughs in the coming year for automotive-grade processor 
architecture, and its third-generation processor architecture.  

The financing has brought important strategic resources and new 
commercialization opportunities for Horizon, fueling a growing momentum in the 
expansion of the ecosystem around its core businesses. Going forward, Horizon 
will continue to conquer the "Everest" of artificial intelligence and edge 
computing. As Horizon advances towards this vision, it will foster new 
application scenarios, and grow this ecosystem together with its partners, 
making deeper and broader contributions in the field of artificial intelligence.

SOURCE Horizon Robotics