(Yicai Global) June. 13 -- Chinese facial recognition unicorn Yitu Technology has more than tripled its Series C financing in less than a month, raising USD200 million with support from some of China's heavyweight banks. 

Financiers in the C+ round include two Hong Kong units of Chinese banks; namely the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, the Shanghai-based AI firm said in a statement. Both of these banks' offshore arms already took part in Series B financing in 2016.

Yitu will use the funds from the C round to expand its research capacity for applications in the medical sector. The firm's medical team has already launched AI diagnostic imaging products including chest computed tomography, ultrasound, and bone age scanners that are used in hospitals in China. 

Yitu completed its previous CNY380-million Series C financing round in mid-May. Some of the investors included Jack Ma's co-founded buyout firm Yunfeng Fund and the China unit of US Sequoia Capital, the latter of which has stood by Yitu's side since its early stages of Series A financing in 2014.  

Yitu, founded in 2012, focuses on providing AI technologies in the fields of security, finance, healthcare, and transportation. The firm's clients include Alibaba Cloud Computing, China Merchants Bank, and traffic police in Guizhou province, China's 'digital valley.' In 2015, local police in Suzhou city in Jiangsu province used Yitu's technology to capture a burglar in just ten minutes after the crime, while pinpointing the targeted car among hundreds in a surveillance video.

Editor: Emmi Laine