KKR leads the investment in property management software platform Guesty and lifestyle brand SIDANDA, which has received nearly 100 million yuan in financing. The robot company under the Gree Group, located in Luoyang, is planning to deregister.

"PropTech Weekly" is an original column of 36Kr's Future City channel. Focusing on the technological and innovative forces that are changing the real estate industry, it not only revolves around residential and commercial real estate, but also includes a broad range of technology and service innovations based on space and real estate.

We have summarized the latest domestic and international investment and financing, market, and policy dynamics that have occurred recently. If you are interested in the companies, institutions, products, or tracks mentioned in this article, or are engaged in related entrepreneurial innovation and want to seek coverage or cooperation, please feel free to contact us: send an email to hifuturecity@36kr.com or add the author's WeChat at the bottom of the article.

PropTech Highlights

36Kr Exclusive | Lifestyle brand SIDANDA receives nearly 100 million yuan in Series A financing

Major Company News | Gree's subsidiary Luoyang Robot Co., Ltd. announces its intention to cancel registration

Overseas Market | Property management software platform Guesty secures $130 million in funding with KKR leading the investment

Industry Policy | Zhejiang: Smart IoT industry cluster breaks through trillion yuan mark

|36Kr Exclusive

Lifestyle brand SIDANDA receives nearly 100 million yuan in Series A financing

The high-end lifestyle brand SIDANDA recently completed nearly 100 million yuan in Series A financing, with Challenger Venture Capital leading the investment, Zhonghui Capital participating, and Zhiyuan Capital serving as the exclusive financial advisor. SIDANDA uses down as the source material to develop home lifestyle products that combine technology, high quality, and unique visual aesthetics. In addition to the main brand SIDANDA, the company also has a children's home textile brand and plans to focus on the core customer base and membership system in the future to meet the needs of more high-end families.

The pattern of China's home textile industry has remained unchanged for many years. Compared to the over 50% penetration rate of down bedding in Europe, the United States, and Japan, the penetration rate of down bedding in China is only 5%. It is reported that SIDANDA has its own down factory, which has been engaged in long-term OEM production for global high-end brands such as Nishikawa of Japan and Ralph Lauren, accumulating quality control capabilities and luxury home textile craftsmanship. In addition, SIDANDA's factory is also a large-scale, standardized, and automated intelligent home textile factory, and is one of the largest OEM factories for IKEA home textile products globally.

|Major Company News

Gree's subsidiary Luoyang Robot Co., Ltd. announces its intention to cancel registration

Recently, Gree's subsidiary Luoyang Robot Co., Ltd. announced its intention to cancel registration. The company issued a notice of simple cancellation, with the notice period from April 16th to May 6th. Gree Robot (Luoyang) Co., Ltd. was established in November 2017, with Wen Hui as the legal representative and a registered capital of 100 million RMB. The company's main business scope includes the design, production, sales, engineering implementation, and service of intelligent robots, automation equipment, and spare parts, as well as the import and export of goods and technology. According to shareholder information, the company is wholly owned by Gree Electric Appliances.

Glodon obtains invention patent authorization, titled "A modeling method and system based on a standard graphics set"

Recently, enterprise check data shows that Glodon has newly obtained an invention patent authorization, titled "A modeling method and system based on a standard graphics set." The patent abstract shows that the invention provides a modeling method and system based on a standard graphics set, including: obtaining the parameter graphics corresponding to the first standard graphics set; determining the three-dimensional model of each component in the component list based on the component list and the parameter values of each parameter variable, obtaining the insertion coordinates of the first graphic element, and determining the three-dimensional model of the first graphic element based on the three-dimensional models of each component and the insertion coordinates. The invention determines the three-dimensional model and insertion coordinates of each component based on the parameter graphics corresponding to the standard graphics set and the input parameter variables, and then uses a building block method to assemble a complex model, which is flexible and simple to operate, greatly shortening the modeling time of graphic elements, improving modeling efficiency, and ensuring the accuracy of the established model.

Glodon's financial data for the 2023 annual report shows that the company invested 1.895 billion RMB in research and development in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 25.04%. It achieved a total operating income of 6.563 billion RMB, a year-on-year decrease of 0.42%, and a net profit of 116 million RMB, a year-on-year decrease of 88.02%.

|Overseas Market

Property management software platform Guesty secures $130 million in funding with KKR leading the investment

Recently, property management software platform Guesty secured $130 million in Series F financing, with global investment firm KKR leading the investment, and existing investors Inovia Capital, Apax, BDT & MSD Partners, and Sixth Street also participating. Founded in 2013, Guesty is headquartered in Israel and operates in over 80 countries worldwide, providing a comprehensive property management system for short-term rentals and other hospitality businesses to simplify operations and achieve automation.

Guesty stated that it will use this funding to continue business growth through acquisitions and organic growth, expand its product range to cater to mid-term rentals, corporate housing, and full-service accommodations. It will focus on the United States and Europe, especially France, Germany, and Spain. Guesty is working to create the industry's first intelligent property management platform and will continue to develop new features and artificial intelligence technology to provide leading functions and support to its customers.

Sumitomo Corporation plans to invest 200 billion yen to build battery storage facilities in Japan

Market reports show that Sumitomo Corporation plans to invest 200 billion yen to build battery storage facilities at multiple locations in Japan. These facilities are intended to store surplus electricity from wind and solar power plants.

Sumitomo Corporation is the core company of the Sumitomo Group. It currently has investments in 120 projects in China, including various industries such as steel, chemicals, machinery, electronics, textiles, materials, logistics, and IT.

|Industry Policy

Zhejiang: Smart IoT industry cluster breaks through trillion yuan mark

Recently, the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology released significant economic data, indicating that the economic output of the province's smart IoT industry cluster has surpassed 1 trillion RMB for the first time, making it the fourth industry cluster to enter the trillion-level scale after green petrochemicals, modern textiles and apparel, and high-end software.

Currently, the smart IoT industry cluster in Zhejiang has formed a layout with 9 core areas, collaborative areas, and a "one core, two poles, and multiple points" layout, with Hangzhou's Binjiang District, Jiashan County, and Yuyao City as representatives. The "one core" refers to Hangzhou, the "two poles" refer to Ningbo and Jiaxing, and the "multiple points" refer to promoting the coordinated development of other prefecture-level cities. In addition, Hangzhou's digital security industry has been selected as a national advanced manufacturing cluster, and the joint construction of "China Vision Valley" by the central and provincial governments is also accelerating.