Clearbot, one of the leading ocean mobility startups, today announced it has closed on a seed funding round led by the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund (AEF), which is managed by Gobi Partners GBA, with participation from CarbonX Global.


Clearbot is putting sustainability at the forefront of marine services by designing and developing AI-powered, all-electric and self-driving 'Clearbot' robot boats. It also provides robot-as-a-service (RaaS) to its clients to automate various maritime services, including trash collection, water quality monitoring and cargo movement. The Clearbot team has partnered with Razer in designing its latest version, Clearbot Neo, which is the primary commercially available model today. In addition, Clearbot is expanding its presence with seven robots deployed across locations such as Hong Kong, India, and Panama.


This round of funding will be used to invest in product development and R&D to improve operational efficiency in different environmental conditions. To scale, Clearbot continues to develop effective and simple solutions across geographical boundaries and changing weather conditions - whether that is extreme heat or unusually busy ports. Clearbot will also invest in research to turn data into insights for clients in compliance with ESG standards as a result becoming a one-stop solution that help clients better understand and optimize their business practices for sustainable development in the marine sector.


Cindy Chow, Executive Director of Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, said: "We have witnessed the growth of Clearbot's team from university as a winner of the JUMPSTARTER IdeaPOP! 2020 to building their Proof-of-Concept product at HKAI Lab and winning the JUMPSTARTER 2022 Global Pitch Competition. Seeing the way in which they have commercialized their innovative concepts into enterprise graded RaaS solutions has given us confidence that Clearbot will continue to create impact in the marine services industry."


"At Gobi, we seek out founders in new markets and technologies, carving their own niches to make an impact on the world," said Chibo Tang, Managing Partner of Gobi Partners GBA. "Marine services is one area we believe technology can make a big impact. We believe that Clearbot can leverage their robotic and autonomous technologies to help combat marine pollution in Asia, as well as promote a more efficient marine service industry."


Sam Cooke from CarbonX Global added, "CarbonX is passionate about the protection of our marine biodiversity. We look forward to helping Clearbot expand throughout SouthEast Asia in their quest to clean our oceans."
Clearbot's co-founder Sidhant Gupta said, "In the next decade, Clearbot plans to position itself in the market as the largest fleet of electric boats in the world and prepare the industry for the change towards sustainability. The vision for Clearbot is to bring the same impact in the marine services industry as electric cars did in the automotive industry. Backed by AEF's support through JUMPSTARTER and HKAI Lab, we've got Clearbot off the ground since 2020 and joined a thriving network of business leaders, investor, and potential partners. With that, we are confident that we can execute our vision into reality."


About Clearbot
Clearbot, is a Hong Kong based tech startup which builds electric, AI-powered electric boats for the marine industry. Clearbot won the JUMPSTARTER 2022 Global Pitch Competition and the JUMPSTARTER IdeaPOP! 2020, which are organized by Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund. In 2019, Clearbot was a Microsoft AI for Earth winner due to the company's consistent growth and innovation. Clearbot continues work with clients in the marine industry across various commercial use-cases such as garbage collection, cargo movement, surveying, monitoring and more.