Megvii is also apparently prepping for an initial public offering for later this year.

Subscribe to the ºÚÁÏ³Ô¹Ï Daily

(BOCGI) Ltd., the state bank’s private equity arm, led the financing with a $200 million contribution, Reuters reported. , I. and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and existing backer also reportedly participated in this round.

Since it was founded in 2011, Megvii has raised , according to its ºÚÁÏ³Ô¹Ï profile.

The financing coincides with rising adoption of its facial recognition technology, along with concerns about . , also a China-based AI company focused on facial recognition, has raised over time. Last September, it brought in a $1 billion that valued the company at $6 billion.

As our Holden Page wrote in 2017, facial and image recognition technology has proven to be a critical capability in recent years. It’s a feature that has made its way as a main selling point in the iPhone, and startups involved in the space are banking large sums of money on their ability to identify users and their devices.

±õ±ô±ô³Ü²õ³Ù°ù²¹³Ù¾±´Ç²Ô:Ìý