April 1, 2020 WiMi Hologram Cloud Inc. (Nasdaq: WIMI), one of the Sensegain portfolio companies, successfully landed on NASDAQ Global Board, becoming the first public AI vision company. The company IPO raised $26 million by offering 4.8 million ADSs at $5.50 with a market value of $325 million.
Founded in May 2015, WiMi Hologram’s core business in holographic AR technology for software engineering, content production, cloud and big data. In terms of main business, the company currently relies on its holographic AR integrated platform to provide customers with holographic AR advertising and AR entertainment products. The company's business scope covers multiple AR hologram links including: holographic computer vision AI synthesis, holographic visual presentation, holographic interactive software development, holographic AR online and offline advertising, holographic AR SDK payment, 5G holographic communication software development, holographic face recognition development, and holographic AI face change. The development of multiple holographic AR technologies builds up the company’s one-stop service capabilities, and WiMi has now grown into one of China's largest holographic cloud integrated technology solution providers.
According to the unaudited financial data disclosed in the company's F-1, holographic AR Entertainment revenue increased by RMB 7.7 million (USD 1.1 million), 17.3%, from approximately RMB 44.0 million (USD 6.3 million) by end of 2018 to approximately RMB 51.7 million (USD 7.4 million) by end of 2019. The gross profit margins of AR Advertisement and AR Entertainment reached 63.1% and 93.2% respectively, reflecting the company's good growth potential and strong profitability.
In 2019, holographic AR ads produced using WiMi software generated a total of about 9.7 billion views, a 47% increase from 6.6 billion views in 2018. As of June 2019, WIMI possess 4,654 holographic AR content copyrights, 214 holographic software copyrights, and 132 holographic related patents. According to data from Frost & Sullivan, having established the most comprehensive and diverse holographic AR content library among all holographic AR solution providers in China, WiMi ranks first in China's holographic AR industry in terms of revenue, number of customers, holographic AR content, holographic AR copyrights and software patents.
According to Sullivan's data survey, the size of China's holographic AR market is about 12 billion RMB in 2019, and will reach 455 billion RMB in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 83%. Among them, the growth of AR software & content is 90%, and the growth rate of AR hardware is 73%. Holographic AR is a rising industry that has just started and is developing at a high speed with broad development potential. As the advent of the 5G era, holographic image communication can take advantage of the high-speed 5G network to show users a more realistic and smooth effect. It will make a qualitative difference in interactivity and become a disruptive technology for Internet social. Coupled with the increasing popularity of electronic devices and the support of the outbreak of various online living scenes, it can be expected that the era of holographic AR is coming.
In the future, the WiMi plan to rely on developing core technologies such as 5G holographic communication software development, holographic AI face recognition, and face-to-face replacement, and to create multiple technology innovation systems that support holographic cloud platform services and 5G holographic applications. The competitive advantages of the AR solution and rich holographic AR content library will further expand the business to more industries and fields.
Sensegain managed fund invested in WiMi in September 2016 and became one of the company's most important strategic investors and core partners. We are optimistic about the broad market development space brought by the combination of holographic AR technology and different application scenarios, and we recognize the company management team's deep understanding of holographic AR technology and excellent commercial development capabilities. We believe that the advent of the 5G era will bring rare market opportunities for the company, and we look forward that WiMi will achieve faster, higher and stronger development in the future.
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