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- Laiye
Laiye Funding, Investors & Competitors
Laiye has raised $201M across 5 funding rounds, most recently a $70M Series C in April 2022.
Last Laiye funding round
$70M
Series C · Apr 2022
Cumulative funding Laiye raised
$201M
across 5 funding rounds
Key investors in Laiye
Lightspeed China Partners
Lightspeed Venture Partners
Wu Capital
HSG
Cathay Innovation
ZhenFund
VMS Asset Management
Cathay Capital Private Equity
About Laiye
Laiye is a Beijing-headquartered digital workforce platform integrating robotic process automation, intelligent document processing, and AI agents for enterprise workflow optimization. The solution automates repetitive tasks in finance, HR, and customer service, enabling organizations to deploy virtual assistants across cloud and on-premise environments.
Founded
2015
HQ
Website
Status
Privately held
Customer focus
B2B
Revenue model
Subscription
Laiye Funding History
Laiye has raised a total of $201M across 5 funding rounds.
Laiye's first fundraising round was a $4M seed round in September 2015. The most recent completed round was a $70M Series C in April 2022.
Laiye funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2022 | Series C | HOPU Investment Management Company (lead); Lightspeed China Partners; Youshan Capital; VMS Asset Management; Lightspeed Venture Partners | $70M | Laiye is an AI company specializing in intelligent automation, including Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Work Execution Systems, serving clients like Fortune 500 companies such as Amazon, Nike, Porsche, Bank of China, and Eurostar. The company raised $70 million in its Series C-III round on April 19, 2022, led by HOPU Investment Management Company with participation from Lightspeed China Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, VMS Asset Management, Youshan Capital, and others, bringing total funding to approximately $201 million across 10 rounds. In the 12 months following the round, Laiye reported a tenfold increase in international revenues driven by new blue-chip customers and partnerships with global technology giants, alongside acquisitions of Conversational AI startup Mindsay and IDP specialist Intelligence Qubic to enhance its Work Execution Platform. The company reorganized globally in 2023 for sustainable growth amid macroeconomic challenges. |
| Apr 2021 | Series C | Ping An Global Voyager (lead); Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Industry Equity Investment Fund (lead); Lightspeed China Partners; Lightspeed Venture Partners; Wu Capital; HSG | $50M | Laiye, a Beijing-based leader in intelligent automation and robotic process automation (RPA) software, raised $50 million in a Series C+ funding round on April 21, 2021, co-led by Ping An Global Voyager Fund and Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Industry Equity Investment Fund, with participation from Lightspeed China Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital China, and Wu Capital. Founded in 2015 by Ivy League PhD graduates and Baidu veterans, the company develops software to automate mundane workplace tasks like keyboard strokes and mouse clicks, positioning itself as China's answer to UiPath. It offers RPA solutions with native AI capabilities, conversational AI products like Laiye Chatbot, and aims for compatibility across operating systems and cloud platforms. The funding supports global expansion into Asia, the US, and Europe, product development for end-to-end intelligent automation, recruitment of top talent for industry-specific solutions, and strengthening its developer and partner ecosystem. Laiye has partnerships with Microsoft, Deloitte, KPMG, and Digital China, and maintains a community of over 400,000 developers and more than 500 partners, primarily in China, with plans to grow this internationally and certify one million software robot developers by 2025. It also operates a bot marketplace connecting freelance developers to businesses. Traction includes 900% year-over-year growth in annual RPA software subscription revenue, positive cashflow for its enterprise business, and profitability for the chatbot business in Q4 2020. The company employs about 400 staff globally with entities in China, Singapore, and the US, and serves Fortune 500 clients and government institutions. Solutions resonate particularly with financial institutions in China adopting RPA. |
| Feb 2020 | Series C | Lightspeed China Partners (lead); Lightspeed Venture Partners (lead); Wu Capital; Cathay Innovation | $42M | Laiye, a Beijing-based Chinese startup specializing in robotic process automation (RPA) and AI solutions, raised $42 million in a Series C funding round on February 23, 2020, co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Lightspeed China Partners, with participation from Cathay Innovation and Wu Capital. The company provides automation services to major tech firms and government agencies in China, addressing processes like data fetching from bank systems without APIs through its UiBot RPA platform, which integrates AI capabilities such as natural language processing, optical character recognition, computer vision, chatbots, and machine learning. At the time, Laiye had over 200 partners and more than 200,000 registered developers using its multilingual platform. The funding was intended to hire global talent and expand services, combining RPA with AI and human expertise to scale operations. Founded about four-and-a-half years prior, Laiye had raised over $100 million cumulatively by this round and positioned itself as a leader in China's nascent RPA market alongside UiPath, with Microsoft as an earlier investor. Lightspeed partner Amy Wu highlighted massive opportunities in China and potential for global expansion. |
| Jun 2019 | Series B | Cathay Innovation (lead); Lightspeed China Partners; Wu Capital; Cathay Capital Private Equity | $35M | Laiye is a Beijing-based enterprise software startup focused on intelligent automation, particularly in robotic process automation (RPA) and AI. On June 27, 2019, it closed a $35 million Series B+ funding round led by Cathay Innovation, with participation from existing investors Wu Capital and Lightspeed China Partners. This followed a merger with Awesome Technology, enabling the launch of its RPA product UiBot to target the fast-growing workflow automation market. UiBot, launched shortly before the round, achieved 300,000 downloads and 6,000 registered enterprise users within months, serving major clients like Nike, Walmart, Wyeth, China Mobile, and Ctrip. The funding was earmarked for R&D talent recruitment, sales expansion, enhancing AI capabilities in natural language processing, deep learning, and reinforcement learning, and accelerating commercialization across industries. Investors highlighted Laiye's potential in China's booming enterprise software sector, post-B2C wave, and its technological edge in RPA+AI. Cathay Innovation's Denis Barrier emphasized data-driven algorithm improvements and global collaboration. Wu Capital noted expanding customer bases and efficiency gains in customer/sales management, while Lightspeed's James Mi praised talent attraction and product evolution since Pre-A rounds. This round positioned Laiye for global expansion into Europe, SEA, and the US, later supported by a $42M Series C in 2020 also led by Cathay. The company continued growth, acquiring Paris-based chatbot provider Mindsay in 2022 with Cathay's assistance, amid total funding reaching $201M over 10 rounds by 2022. |
| Sep 2015 | Seed | Lightspeed China Partners (lead); ZhenFund; Pros Partners; HSG | $4M | Laiye is a Chinese AI startup founded in 2015 that develops intelligent robots and robotic process automation (RPA) solutions for enterprises, including major tech firms, banks, and government agencies. Its products like UiBot enable automation of repetitive tasks such as data entry and integration with AI capabilities including natural language processing and computer vision. The company serves clients like Ctrip, Meituan, China Southern Power Grid, PetroChina, Bank of China, and global firms such as Porsche, LVMH, and AstraZeneca. On September 29, 2015, Laiye completed its seed VC round with investors including Lightspeed China Partners, later participating in multiple follow-on rounds. Lightspeed China Partners emerged as a key backer, joining subsequent Series A (2016, led by Microsoft), Series B (2017), Series B - II (2019), and various Series C tranches totaling over $160 million by 2022, co-led by firms like Lightspeed Venture Partners, Cathay Innovation, Wu Capital, HOPU Magnolia, Youshan Capital, VMS Group, Ping An Global Voyager Fund, and Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Industry Equity Investment Fund. Pros Partners and ZhenFund (also known as ZhenFund) align with early involvement patterns, though specifics for the 2015 round are unconfirmed beyond Lightspeed. Laiye raised a total of $201 million across 10 rounds by April 2022, using funds to hire global talent, expand internationally to Asia Pacific, Americas, and EMEA, acquire technologies like Paris-based Mindsay, and drive product innovation. It positions as China's leader in RPA, competing with UiPath and Automation Anywhere, with over 200 partners, 200,000 developers, and triple-digit year-over-year growth reported in later stages. |
Who has invested in Laiye?
13 investors have backed Laiye across its funding rounds, including Lightspeed China Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Wu Capital, HSG, Cathay Innovation and ZhenFund.
Lead investors include HOPU Investment Management Company, Ping An Global Voyager, Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Industry Equity Investment Fund, Lightspeed China Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and 1 other investor.
Laiye Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Lead | Sep 2015 | ||
| 3 | Lead | Feb 2020 | ||
| 3 | Participant | Jun 2019 | ||
| 2 | Lead | Jun 2019 | ||
| 2 | Participant | Sep 2015 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Sep 2015 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Apr 2022 | ||
| 1 | Lead | Apr 2021 | ||
| 1 | Lead | Apr 2022 | ||
| 1 | Lead | Apr 2021 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Apr 2022 | ||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all 13 Laiye investors. Start Free Trial | ||||
Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples
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Start Free TrialAcquisitions by Laiye
Laiye has acquired 2 companies to date.
Last acquisition by Laiye was on April 14th 2022. Laiye acquired Mindsay for undisclosed valuation.
Latest Acquisitions by Laiye
| Description | Mindsay is a low-code and no-code conversational AI platform enabling companies to deliver personalized, always-on customer service at scale. | UiBot is a Beijing-based developer of robotic process automation software tailored for enterprise workflows. Its platform automates repetitive tasks in finance, HR, and customer service using drag-and-drop interfaces and AI-driven process mining. Released in 2016, UiBot supports integrations with ERP systems like SAP and databases such as Oracle. Chinese enterprises including banks and government agencies deploy it to streamline operations across Windows, web, and Citrix environments, emphasizing low-code development for rapid deployment. |
| HQ Country | ||
| HQ City | Paris | Fuzhou |
| Deal Date | 14 Apr 2022 | 27 Jun 2019 |
| Valuation | undisclosed | $7M |
| EV/Revenue | ||
| EV/EBITDA | ||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Laiye acquisitions and their M&A valuation multiples. Start Free Trial | ||
Laiye Competitors
Laiye competitors include listed companies like Vrain Solution, Cadence Design Systems, Autodesk and Constellation Software, and private ones like Certus Core and NEURA Robotics.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private | - | - | $3.4B | - | ||
| Publicly listed | $21M | $6M | $307M | 11.5x | ||
| Private | - | - | $7B | - | ||
| Publicly listed | $5.3B | $1.8B | $77B | 13.0x | ||
| Publicly listed | $7.2B | $1.8B | $46B | 5.7x | ||
| Publicly listed | $12B | $2.5B | $43B | 3.5x |
Laiye Public Comps
Laiye is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Palantir, Snowflake, Cadence Design Systems, Z.ai, Autodesk, Constellation Software, Dassault Systemes, Hexagon, Snap-on and IonQ.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $4.5B | $1.5B | 92.6x | 58.1x | 285.0x | 97.4x | |||
| $4.7B | ($1.3B) | 25.6x | 21.0x | (94.1x) | 121.7x | |||
| $5.3B | $1.8B | 14.8x | 13.0x | 44.3x | 27.3x | |||
| $108M | ($658M) | 422.9x | 65.9x | (69.4x) | (73.0x) | |||
| $7.2B | $1.8B | 6.3x | 5.7x | 25.6x | 14.1x | |||
| $12B | $2.5B | 4.0x | 3.5x | 18.5x | 12.9x | |||
| $7.2B | $2.2B | 4.0x | 4.0x | 13.2x | 11.2x | |||
| $6.2B | $1.7B | 4.2x | 5.0x | 15.2x | 14.0x | |||
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Common questions about Laiye
| When was Laiye founded? | Laiye was founded in 2015. |
| Where is Laiye headquartered? | Laiye is headquartered in Beijing, China. |
| Is Laiye publicly listed? | No, Laiye is a private, VC-backed company. |
| How much funding has Laiye raised? | Laiye has raised $201M across 5 funding rounds. |
| What was Laiye's last funding round? | Laiye's last funding round was a $70M Series C in April 2022, led by HOPU Investment Management Company. |
| Who are Laiye's investors? | Laiye's investors include Lightspeed China Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Wu Capital, Cathay Innovation, HSG, ZhenFund, Youshan Capital, Ping An Global Voyager, HOPU Investment Management Company, Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Industry Equity Investment Fund and 3 others. |
| Which companies are comparable to Laiye? | Companies comparable to Laiye include Certus Core, Vrain Solution, NEURA Robotics, Cadence Design Systems, Autodesk and Constellation Software. |
| How many companies has Laiye acquired? | Laiye has acquired 2 companies, including Mindsay and UiBot. |
| What was the largest acquisition by Laiye? | The $7M acquisition of UiBot in June 2019 is the largest acquisition Laiye has made to date. |
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