Aqara, a leading IoT company, completes Series B2 funding round to accelerate overseas and B2B expansion
Going forward, Aqara will pursue strategic partnerships with global tech giants and double down on overseas markets, while also building out its B2B business with scenario-based solutions for smart eldercare and smart agriculture.
Recently, domestic IoT industry leader Lumi United (Aqara) announced the completion of its Series B2 funding round, led by YuanYi Investment with follow-on investments from Cathay Capital, Joy Capital, and YunMu Capital. In 2015, Gaorong Ventures had invested in Lumi United's Series A round. According to You Yanjun, Chairman and CEO of Lumi United, the proceeds will be used to further invest in innovative product R&D, create hit smart home products for the Xiaomi ecosystem, strengthen the Aqara brand, and build out an "online + offline" new retail channel network.
Industry Leader: From Hit Single Products to Full-Scene Intelligence
As a leading player in China's smart home and IoT space, Lumi United has gone all-in on technology, continuously investing in R&D across low-power wireless sensors, controllers, wireless networking technology, edge computing for smart home gateways, algorithms and AI, and open platform integration capabilities. Annual R&D spending accounts for 15% of revenue, and the company currently holds 200 patents and copyrights, placing its technology and product capabilities at the global forefront.
In recent years, Lumi United has created multiple hit products, including the Mi Smart Home Kit, Mi Smart Door Lock, Aqara Smart Door Lock, Aqara Smart Curtain Motor, and Aqara Air Conditioning Companion, establishing itself as a trendsetter in the smart home industry.
At the same time, Lumi United has pursued a "full-scene coverage" product strategy, rolling out dozens of smart control and sensing devices. During the 2018 Double 11 shopping festival, it sold 500,000 units; in 2019, it achieved double-digit sales growth across all platforms, breaking RMB 100 million in total smart home category sales within one hour and twenty minutes. Its Aqara electric curtains, sensors, smart switches, and Mi Smart Door Lock all ranked first in their categories across all platforms.
Moreover, as the industry's pioneer in moving from "smart single products" to "whole-home intelligence," Lumi United has steadily expanded its smart home product lineup to cover both residential and commercial scenarios, leading the industry from the 1.0 era of selling individual products into the 2.0 era of selling complete scenes. Through its series of smart home products, technologies, and service provider model, Lumi United is building richer intelligent scenarios and enabling more people to experience truly smart home living.
New Retail Channels: Integrated "Scene Display + Sales + Delivery + Maintenance"
Since 2017, Lumi United has pioneered the Aqara smart home offline service provider system, accelerating the build-out of last-mile offline smart home services to offer users integrated whole-home smart solutions combining scene display, sales, delivery, and maintenance. Aqara now has over 400 service providers and 300+ smart home experience stores covering most cities across China, providing thousands of users with on-site surveys, solution design, installation, debugging, and after-sales maintenance services.
From initial strategic planning to the systematic rollout of products, technologies, and solutions, Lumi United has completed its upgrade from smart home single products to whole-home intelligence.
Targeting Overseas: Strategic Partnerships with Global Tech Giants, Push into International Markets
Leveraging its globally leading IoT technology and smart home product capabilities, Lumi United has signed strategic cooperation agreements with global tech giants including LG and SEB, joined the HomeKit ecosystem, and gained access to Apple Store's full online and offline channels. North America and Europe will be Lumi United's key overseas markets to expand over the next three years. The company will use Amazon's e-commerce platform as its online entry point, while offline it will pursue partnerships with Apple's global retail stores, major supermarkets, and regional electronics brand distributors.
B2B Market: Building Smart Elderly Care, Smart Agriculture, and Other Scenario Solutions
Lumi United has accumulated extensive case experience in real estate, office buildings, apartments, elderly care, and agriculture, and will strengthen its influence in the B2B market going forward. The company has reached strategic partnerships with multiple well-known real estate developers, hotel chains, and premium office buildings. This collaboration with YuanYi Investment will also leverage the industrial resources of Far East Horizon behind YuanYi, deploying Aqara whole-home smart solutions across nearly a hundred hospitals and nursing homes and dozens of schools under Far East Horizon to create benchmark cases in premium smart elderly care and smart campuses.
You Yanjun stated: "As an explorer in the domestic smart home field, Lumi United has led the industry from the era of smart home single products into the new era of whole-home intelligence in just a few short years. Currently, Aqara not only has a large domestic user base but also a considerable overseas user community. Going forward, besides continuing to vigorously develop Aqara service providers domestically, overseas markets will also be a key focus for Lumi United. Over the past year, Lumi United products have successively integrated with mainstream smart home platforms including Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant, and signed strategic cooperation agreements with international tech giants such as LG and SEB. In the B2B market, Lumi United has established partnerships with well-known enterprises across numerous sectors, accumulating rich case experience."
You Yanjun noted that going forward, Lumi United will develop more high-quality products for industry applications, continuously driving the penetration of intelligence into more residential and commercial scenarios, enabling more people to enjoy smart, technology-enabled work and living environments.
