The latest news on investment offerings, financial products and other services relevant to wealth advisors and their clients.

Laiye 
Laiye, a US-based “intelligent automation” company, has completed its $160 million funding round with the latest tranche at $70 million led by HOPU Magnolia, a China-based technology-focused investment firm. Other investors include VMS Group and Youshan Capital, with existing investors such as Lightspeed China Partners and US-based Lightspeed Venture Partners also participating in this round.

The funding follows Laiye's recent acquisition of Paris-based Mindsay, a European enterprise conversation AI firm, and the establishment of a new R&D hub in Paris. Laiye plans to deploy the new capital to accelerate expansion in Asia-Pacific, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. 

"Laiye has made great strides in expanding its success in China to Asia-Pacific, the Americas and EMEA. We envision a future where all organisations and people are transformed, emboldened and made better by the power of intelligent automation,” Guanchun Wang, chairman and chief executive of Laiye said.

Over the past 12 months, Laiye more than doubled its team outside China to more than 100 employees, about 15 per cent of the total workforce.

Laiye focuses on enterprise customers in the insurance, communications, electric power, finance, retail, and healthcare industries to build end-to-end intelligent automation solutions. In China, clients include Bank of China and China Construction Bank.