Smart Dishwasher Firm Qingmei Completes A-Round Financing, Baidu Ventures Among Investors

Qingmei Electric Appliance Technology Co., Ltd. (Qingmei), a smart dishwasher manufacturer based in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo, announced Friday that it has received tens of millions of yuan in A-round financing from Borun Capital and Baidu Ventures. The funds are reportedly to be used for R&D investment, intelligent factory construction and market expansion. Previously, Xiaomi joined in the angel investment round for Qingmei.

Founded in 2019, Qingmei independently develops, produces and sells smart dishwashers, and is gradually expanding to various European and U.S. markets. It has built an intelligent manufacturing facility, which will be put into production in June 2022.

Zhao Xuegang, founder of Qingmei, said, “The company brings together a group of high-end talent in mechatronics system construction, intelligent control and experimental testing. They are proficient in the market solutions and details of existing dishwashers, and develop new patented solutions in response to the large number of patents for mature solutions deployed globally. On this basis, a complete innovative solution is formulated for R&D and mass production.”

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Zhao added, “We believe that dishwashers are still in an early period for development. Referring to the penetration rate and growth rhythm of cleaning appliances, it is estimated that the penetration rate of dishwashers will reach 7%-10%, and the dishwasher market will usher in booming development.”

The home appliance market in China is highly competitive, but the penetration rate of dishwashers is extremely low. According to oIBP, the penetration rate of dishwashers in China was less than 1% in 2020, suggesting huge potential for future market growth, compared with a penetration rate of over 70% in Europe and the U.S.