China's Zhiyi Tech, which provides AI tools to help fashion brands better predict bestsellers for e-commerce livestreaming, has raised ~$100M over three rounds
Rita Liao / TechCrunch :
Context & Ripple Effects
Zhiyi Tech's ~$100M across three rounds lands in a China applied-AI funding lane that has been running for years: AInnovation raised ~$57M Series B toward ~$143M total for retail and manufacturing AI, and Tianrang raised ~$26M for enterprise marketing data analysis. The difference is Zhiyi's wedge — livestreaming, where demand signals are real-time and fashion inventory risk is highest.
The fashion-commerce angle also has precedent: Zilingo's $54M Series C backed the marketplace infrastructure layer of Asian online fashion, while Zhiyi is funding the intelligence layer on top of it. Against Zhipu's $412M raise for China-tailored foundation models, Zhiyi's round shows capital splitting between the model layer and the application layer.
First-order effects
- Zhiyi Tech now has roughly $100M to expand its bestseller-prediction tools, and the fashion brands using its livestreaming AI get tighter demand forecasts that reduce overstock and missed-trend risk.
Second-order effects
- Applied-AI rivals in China's retail vertical, notably AInnovation, face pressure to match livestreaming-specific prediction capabilities or cede the fastest-moving commerce channel to Zhiyi.
Third-order effects
- If livestreaming prediction proves out, China's AI funding structure consolidates into a two-tier pattern: large foundation-model rounds like Zhipu's at the bottom, and vertical application rounds like Zhiyi's competing on distribution into specific commerce workflows.
The trend: China's applied-AI funding is concentrating on vertical commerce use cases, with livestreaming demand prediction emerging as the wedge where AI monetization is most immediate.