(Yicai Global) April 21 -- Laiye Network Technology has raised USD50 million in its Series C+ round of funding to fuel the Chinese bot software developer's global expansion and product development.

The latest round was jointly led by Ping An Global Voyager Fund and Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Industry Equity Investment Fund, the Beijing-based startup said in a statement today.

Lightspeed China Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital China, and Wu Capital also participated in the latest fundraising.

Founded in 2015, Laiye makes software to provide its clients with smart assistants. Its business covers Asia, the US, and Europe with partners including Microsoft, Deloitte, KPMG, and Digital China.

“Laiye aims to foster the world’s largest developer community for software robots and build the world’s largest bot marketplace in the next three years," said Chairman Wang Guanchun. The firm plans to certify at least 1 million software bot developers by 2025, he added.

The annual subscription revenue of Laiye's robotic process automation system jumped by 10 times last year. Its enterprise business became cash flow positive and its chatbot business turned profitable in the fourth quarter, according to Co-Chief Executive Li Wei.

Laiye seeks to enhance its RPA offering to make it compatible with more operating systems such as Android and Linux, as well as major cloud computing platforms, said Li. It will also recruit more top talents and strengthen its developer and partner ecosystems, he added.

“Since our investment in Laiye in the seed round, we have witnessed its growth towards becoming China’s leading firm in intelligent automation and building China's biggest developer community and partner ecosystem,” said James Mi, founding partner of Lightspeed China, one of Laiye’s earliest investors.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi