Former Huawei employees start a business, applying AI multi-modal intelligent sorting in the resource recycling field and securing tens of millions in financing | Exclusive report from Yingke

Author | Qiao Yujie

Editor | Yuan Silai

Hard Kr has learned that Guangzhou Nine-Claw Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. recently completed a Pre-A round of financing worth tens of millions of RMB, jointly invested by Baiyun Financial Holding and Baiyun Construction Science. We have summarized the information of this round of financing and several highlights of the company:

Financing Amount and Investment Institutions

Financing Round: Pre-A Round

Financing Scale: Tens of Millions of RMB

Investment Institutions: Baiyun Financial Holding, Baiyun Construction Science

Fund Usage: It is mainly used for the iteration of core algorithms and equipment, as well as large-scale implementation in more real scenarios.

Basic Company Information

Establishment Time: 2021

Registration Address: Guangzhou City

Technological Highlights: By deeply integrating AI vision with multi-modal sensors such as hyperspectral and near-infrared, Nine-Claw Intelligent has independently developed a software-hardware integrated sorting system, which continuously binds algorithms with real and complex scenarios, forming differential advantages in sorting accuracy, stability, and the ability to replace manual labor.

Market Analysis

Against the backdrop of the "dual carbon" goal and the normalization of garbage classification, the renewable resource industry in China is transforming from extensive processing to refined and large-scale recycling. Among them, the sorting link, as a key node determining recycling efficiency and resource value, has long been highly dependent on manual labor, facing structural problems such as rising costs, insufficient stability, and limited sorting accuracy, which has become the core bottleneck restricting the industry's upgrading.

(Image Source/Enterprise)

Intelligent sorting equipment can reduce labor costs while improving resource recycling efficiency, and is gradually becoming a "rigid configuration" in the field of resource recycling. In typical scenarios such as garbage disposal and renewable resource recycling, intelligent sorting technology has clear value in reducing costs and increasing efficiency, with long-term and sustainable market demand, and relatively considerable development space in the industry.

(Image Source/Enterprise)

Team Background

The company's founder, Li Xizhuo, holds a master's degree in electronic engineering from Linnaeus University in Sweden. He has been engaged in the R & D of Internet of Things software and intelligent devices in large enterprises such as Huawei for nearly 10 years. He is good at the R & D and integration of software and hardware technologies in the fields of environmental sanitation and resource recycling, and has rich experience in product R & D and market management.

In addition, most of the core R & D team of Nine-Claw Intelligent comes from leading enterprises in the industry, with leading and in - depth accumulation of machine vision and Internet of Things core technologies in the industry, as well as decades of senior industrial experience in environmental protection equipment and environmental sanitation operation.

Q&A with the Founder

Hard Kr: Hyperspectral and near-infrared technologies are not rare. Where does Nine-Claw's technological barrier lie?

Li Xizhuo: Currently, in the garbage sorting and resource recycling industry, hyperspectral and near-infrared technologies are indeed used. However, in real garbage sorting scenarios, there are generally high pollution and high mixing situations, and there will be many interferences during identification. The AI multi-modal composite recognition system developed by Nine-Claw deeply integrates sensing technologies such as hyperspectral and near-infrared with self-developed algorithms and models in the renewable resource field, and also designs specific software and hardware systems for real scenarios. Typical samples generated during the operation of the equipment will be included in the model iteration system, and the algorithms will be continuously optimized through offline analysis and training, and the front-end equipment will be upgraded after verification. The integration of software and hardware in this regard and the data accumulated in real scenarios for a long time are where Nine-Claw's technological barrier lies.

(Image Source/Enterprise)

Hard Kr: What is Nine-Claw's current business model?

Li Xizhuo: Nine-Claw does not simply provide equipment. Instead, it comprehensively considers the component structure and scale of incoming materials and provides customers with overall sorting solutions to ensure that the materials processed by the production line meet the recycling standards.

Currently, the company mainly serves three types of customers. One is local governments. We will cooperate with the government to build local green sorting centers, build a resource recycling system around this as the core, and radiate to the front end. The second is operating enterprises undertaking urban environmental sanitation cleaning and resource recycling tasks. Through equipment upgrading or new factory construction, we help them meet the sorting and processing needs in the region. The third is renewable resource utilization enterprises. Nine-Claw's equipment can operate highly unmanned, reducing labor costs and providing downstream with recycled products with higher purity and more stable quality.

Hard Kr: What is the biggest challenge currently faced in the process of "large-scale implementation"?

Li Xizhuo: On the one hand, the garbage incoming materials vary greatly in different regions, and each new site needs to meet the local sorting needs, which is a challenge. On the other hand, how to make the newly built green sorting center operate in coordination with the local existing resource recycling system to improve the overall recycling efficiency is also a challenge. In essence, this tests the ability to build standardized solutions.

Hard Kr: What directions will the funds from this round of financing be mainly invested in?

Li Xizhuo: The funds will be preferentially used for technological investment, including model iteration and core algorithm upgrading, and promoting the large-scale application of technology in more real scenarios. Nine-Claw has currently achieved technological implementation in the fields of mixed waste plastics, mixed domestic waste, construction and decoration waste, and industrial solid waste. In the future, it will continue to promote the large-scale application of technology in more renewable resource categories. At the same time, the company will also increase investment in market promotion and brand building, and promote the implementation and application of intelligent sorting technology in more renewable resource enterprises and factories.

Investors' Thoughts

Baiyun Financial Holding: The efficient utilization of renewable resources and intelligent sorting are important basic links in promoting green and low - carbon development and upgrading the circular economy. Nine-Claw Intelligent has long focused on the sorting scenarios of complex renewable resources and urban solid waste, and has continuously delved into AI multi-modal composite recognition technology, forming obvious advantages in practical application effects and having the potential to be replicated in more extensive scenarios. Our investment this time is based on the judgment of the large-scale application prospects of intelligent sorting technology, and we also hope to support the enterprise to continuously iterate in the real application environment through the synergistic effect of industrial capital, accelerating technological maturity and market expansion.

Baiyun Construction Science: Against the backdrop of the accelerated construction of the urban renewable resource system, the intelligent sorting ability represented by Nine-Claw Intelligent is an important technological means to improve urban resource recycling efficiency and reduce the pressure on terminal treatment. Nine-Claw Intelligent has achieved technological breakthroughs in systems and equipment, which have been fully verified in practice and have leading competitiveness in the industry. We look forward to the Nine-Claw team further leveraging its unique advantages, actively promoting the development of the circular economy industry, and realizing the vision of reshaping resource value with scientific and technological strength.