Watch out, Alexa. TechCrunch reported that Rokid just raised $50 million at a $450 million valuation. Melody, its Internet of Things home hub, recognizes faces and voices and can even sing to you — in English and Mandarin.
It takes a team of 90, including 15 PhDs and 21 masters holders, to work out Melody’s advanced computer vision and natural language processing — quite a feat. So, it’s no wonder investors have been jumping on board. Advantech, a Chinese investment firm, just joined existing investors IDG Capital Partners and Walden International.
For now, Melody is available only in China for $800. At that price, it’s far more expensive than Amazon Echo or Google Home. But Tami Zhu, general manager of Rokid, said that the pricing strategy will be different when Rokid becomes available stateside.
