DEPTRUM Closes RMB 200 Million Series B Financing Led by CICC Capital
3D perception company DEPTRUM recently completed a RMB 200 million Series B round, with investors including CICC Capital, Yicun Songling and Chongqing Kexing. The proceeds will be used for business expansion.
In the five years since its founding, DEPTRUM has raised a total of RMB 500 million. In 2018 it obtained angel and Pre-A rounds of several million US dollars each; in 2019 it completed a US$15 million Series A co-led by Shuanghu Capital and SoftBank China; in 2020 it closed a US$20 million Series A+; and in 2021 it completed a Series A++ of tens of millions of RMB.
Since its founding, DEPTRUM has proposed the “optics + perception + computing” model, delivering software-hardware integrated visual interaction and perception solutions across industries. Milestones include the launch of the first consumer-grade nanophotonic chip and the co-development of the first under-display 3D smartphone.
DEPTRUM product matrix
Based on its business lines in biometrics, human-machine interaction and machine vision, DEPTRUM has made adoption progress in mobile payment, consumer electronics, smart cockpit and mobile robotics. Revenue has grown several-fold over the past two years, and the company officially turned profitable in Q4 2023.
In 2023, DEPTRUM's biometric payment business achieved a major breakthrough. Working with WeChat Pay, it launched a compact face-payment module in 2021, first applied in WeChat face-payment scenarios; in 2023 it provided the visual perception solution for WeChat Pay's palm-payment service, now rolling out across transportation, retail and other scenarios.
“The core is the user delivery experience of the (palm recognition) product — whether you can make recognition run smoothly,” said Zhu Li, founder of DEPTRUM. Leveraging the team's strengths in optical imaging and image information processing, DEPTRUM renders palm veins through vessel-scattering imaging and rapidly adjusts infrared illumination according to the distance between palm and device, capturing clear subcutaneous vascular images within milliseconds.
Palm-payment solution
Beyond biometrics, DEPTRUM also focuses on applying its products and technology to mobile robots. Facing a market with more players and more mature technical solutions, DEPTRUM has chosen to innovate in vertical categories, and has established partnerships with leading domestic commercial robot and robot vacuum manufacturers.
Take robot vacuums as an example: they typically need two vision systems — one for long-range navigation and localization, the other for close-range recognition and obstacle avoidance — which means deploying multiple sensors. DEPTRUM's proprietary sToF technology fuses structured light and ToF (Time of Flight) capabilities, and combined with dedicated algorithms, enables a single module to deliver ultra-high-precision close-range and high-precision mid-to-long-range 3D imaging.
Meanwhile, DEPTRUM has also laid out positions in smart vehicles and consumer electronics. In smart vehicles, it has formed strategic partnerships with several industry-leading automakers, released automotive-grade ToF depth cameras, and co-develops 3D vision solutions for smart cockpits; in consumer electronics, it has partnered with leading smartphone makers to launch the first under-display 3D smartphone and a flexible OLED under-display 3D concept phone.
On the team side, DEPTRUM's founding team has extensive development experience in optoelectronics, 3D vision and chips, with R&D staff making up more than 80% of the company and hundreds of patents. Its three founders hold PhDs from UC Berkeley and Stanford, graduated in undergraduate studies from Tsinghua University, and previously worked at Apple, Oracle and other internationally renowned companies, with deep experience in optoelectronics and algorithms.
Investor perspectives:
Chen Yanbo, head of Kexing Sci-Tech Investment, said that 3D vision is a key entry point for data reshaping at the perception layer in the AI era. 3D vision technology is highly reusable across vertical scenarios such as mobile payment, consumer electronics, automotive cockpits and robotics, and can also bring users unprecedented interactive experiences. DEPTRUM has brought together a top-tier team from the optoelectronics industry chain, broken through patent blockades through fundamental technological innovation, and has already achieved commercial adoption. We believe DEPTRUM will become a leading company in the 3D vision industry, empowering all things with “DEPTRUM inside” and deeply recreating this remarkable world.
Liu Tao, general manager of Yicun Songling, said DEPTRUM is an outstanding asset in Songling's “AI perception” ecosystem layout. Against the backdrop of deglobalization, technological self-reliance and a self-sufficient supply chain are especially important. The core founding team, represented by Dr. Zhu Li, combines technology, product and engineering capabilities — from “face scanning” to “palm scanning,” from “under-display 3D perception” to “3D vision infrastructure” — fully demonstrating their commercial acumen as outstanding technology entrepreneurs. DEPTRUM has accumulated sufficient experience and capability in the “perception cycle,” and we are also optimistic that the team's big-tech DNA and international vision will enable continuous self-breakthroughs in the AIoT era. The Songling team is fortunate to have grown alongside the company from an early stage.