On November 12, a final judgment obtained by The Paper showed that Shanghai Jilian Technology Development Group Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Jilian Technology"), which once claimed to be China's largest video scene AI engine in its business plan, The investee Shanghai Ruili Culture M&A Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) brought the case to the court on the grounds of dispute over shareholders' right to know. The Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court recently issued a civil judgment, partially revising the first-instance judgment and supporting the investor in auditing Jilian Technology's financial accounting reports, accounting books, accounting vouchers and other related materials since 2017.
Jilian Technology was once a star unicorn company with a very luxurious investment lineup. Public information shows that in April 2018, Jilian Technology completed a 349 million yuan financing led by Alibaba, Yunfeng Fund, and face++ Megvii Technology, with participation from SDIC and Toudou Shidao. The financing will be used to continue to deepen the ai+ entertainment industry commercial layout In September 2018, Jilian Technology once again completed the C1 round of financing. New investors include UBTECH Sirius Capital, Xinhua Wenxuan and Sina’s funds Wenxuan Capital, Ruili Investment, China Investment Capital, Hanfu Holdings, etc. , the two rounds of financing totaled 1.07 billion yuan.
However, in just about a year, Jilian Technology’s business situation took a turn for the worse. According to the information in the judgment, Jilian Technology stated that Jilian Technology experienced major financial changes in 2019, and due to bad debts arising from related businesses, Jilian Technology suffered losses.
Financial information provided to The Paper by people familiar with the matter showed that Jilian Technology failed to reverse its financial difficulties. Beginning in 2020, Jilian Technology’s financial situation deteriorated, and it suffered losses year after year. In 2023, it suffered a loss of tens of millions of yuan.
Jilian Technology’s former star investors are also withdrawing one after another. Tianyancha data shows that in June 2024, Jilian Technology underwent industrial and commercial changes, and its registered capital was reduced from 50 million yuan to 32.11 million yuan. Alibaba (Beijing) Software Services Co., Ltd., Beijing Megvii Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai Yunfeng Xincheng Investment Center (Limited Partnership), Xue Mei, SDIC High-tech (Shenzhen) Venture Capital Fund Jin (Limited Partnership), Hangzhou Qiaobeiyali Investment Management Partnership (Limited Partnership), Zhejiang Zhuji Toutoushidao Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership), Shanghai Gemdale Kaiyue Investment Management Co., Ltd., Nanjing Jiangbei Intelligent Manufacturing Industry Fund (Limited Partnership), Ten shareholders including Jiaxing Junhao Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) withdrew from the investment.
In addition, according to The Paper, the capital reduction that completed the industrial and commercial registration change in June 2024 also involves multiple investor shareholders. The litigation disputes with Jilian Technology are still in the court hearing stage.
Jilian Technology suffered a sudden financial change
The business plan obtained by The Paper shows that Jilian Technology was founded in Shanghai in October 2014 by founder Jin Ming. At that time, with video AI technology as its core, the company helped brands and merchants discover, build and connect cost-effective online and offline scenarios through scene recognition, scene matching and scene creation, realizing a new business model integrating product and effect, thus driving The development of new consumer economy. The core business matrix includes AI scene marketing platform, video e-commerce new retail, new IP theme business, etc. After
completed over 1 billion yuan in financing, Jilian Technology became unparalleled for a while. In January 2019, Dong Huizhi, who was the co-founder and coo of Jilian Technology at the time, also revealed the listing plan in an interview with the media, saying that "the Science and Technology Innovation Board is very suitable for Jilian Technology, so the Science and Technology Innovation Board is preferred for listing." . In addition, Dong Huizhi also revealed the company's good operating conditions. Jilian Technology's revenue in 2016 was only more than 3 million yuan. In 2017, this figure had reached more than 89 million yuan, and its operating income in 2018 was close to 580 million yuan.
So, why did the prosperous Jilian Technology suddenly encounter financial changes?
public information shows that Jilian Technology cooperated with Yunlian Media (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Yunlian Company"), All-day Interactive (Shanghai) Culture Media Co., Ltd., and Guangzhou Pacific Advertising Co., Ltd. Shanghai Branch from 2018 to 2019. companies, etc. to carry out business cooperation. In the end, Jilian Technology claimed to have suffered a total loss of more than 110 million yuan from being defrauded by the aforementioned company.
The Paper has noticed that the Yunlian company involved in the case is not only the person subject to breach of trust, but also had its business license revoked in June 2024. Public information shows that the company and its founder Jiang Lan have both been subject to consumption restrictions. All-day company has also had its business license revoked in May 2024. The
Jilian Technology fraud case is shrouded in many doubts. Why was Jilian Technology defrauded one after another after financing? According to the second-instance civil judgment on the labor contract dispute between Jilian Technology and Zhu Moumou, Jilian admitted that it failed to fulfill its risk control and review obligations in cooperation with the above-mentioned companies, did not collect qualification materials for the cooperative companies, and did not conduct credit assessments on them.
It is worth mentioning that the "Administrative Penalty Decision" [2024] No. 18, 19, and 20 show that Hangzhou Taiyi Zhishang Technology Co., Ltd., an upstream customer of Jilian Technology, fabricated the advertising agency process and engaged in idling without commercial substance. In agency business, directors and senior executives of its parent company, Zhejiang Furun Digital Technology Co., Ltd., were punished for failing to perform their due diligence obligations.
The Paper has learned that investors have different views on Jilian Technology’s claim to have been defrauded. They believe that Jilian Technology uses various business models to earn profit margins, “called an advertising agency, but it is actually a fund lending company.” Regarding the investor’s doubts, The Paper asked Jilian Technology founder Jin Ming for confirmation, but received no response before deadline.
There have been many shareholder lawsuits and disputes
Some investors told The Paper that in addition to the aforementioned "fraud" losses, JiChain's management also introduced other investors and used company funds without the necessary procedures such as the approval of the shareholders' meeting and the board of directors. Improper behavior such as purchasing real estate, engaging in business unrelated to the main business, etc.
The Paper has observed that Nanjing Daqi No. 3 Investment Center (Limited Partnership) has applied to the court for property preservation, requesting to seal up, detain, and freeze Jilian Technology, Jin Ming, Wang Ye, Shanghai Yunchuang Chain Investment Center (Limited Partnership) and Shanghai Jilian Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) has property worth 6.75 million yuan and obtained the court's ruling and permission.
According to insiders, Jilian Technology once introduced Daqi Investment and signed a "Capital Increase Agreement" and accepted a capital increase of tens of millions of yuan. However, in fact, it was only at the shareholders' meeting several months after the investment was completed that Jilian Technology executives proposed the introduction of Daqi Investment to the shareholders' meeting for resolution. In the end, after the investment was aborted because it was not approved by the shareholders' meeting, Daqi Investment filed an arbitration against Jilian Technology, Jin Ming, and Wang Ye. The arbitral tribunal determined that Jilian Technology breached the contract and ruled that it should compensate Daqi Investment for losses.
According to public information inquiries, Jilian Technology purchased a house on Yonghe Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, which was disposed of by the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court through an online auction in October 2019 for RMB 42.25 million.
"Accepting the capital increase and purchasing real estate from Daqi Investment was not completed the necessary decision-making procedures, that is, the company signed relevant agreements without being reviewed and approved by the shareholders' meeting and the board of directors." said a person familiar with the matter.
The Paper has learned that investors have filed lawsuits against Jilian Technology for harming the company’s interests against the company’s directors and senior executives.
ai video unicorn exists in name only
The Paper has noticed that in May 2023, the official public account of Jilian Technology "Jilian Group" has stopped updating, and the official website cannot be opened.
In addition, Jilian Technology has crossed over into the field of script killing. According to the official public account of Jilian Group, during the 2022 National Day, the urban concept theme store "takiplay script art" of Jilian Group's new cultural brand "takiplay script art" will open in the citypark (Galaxy Pavilion). With script art and secret rooms as its core, takiplay integrates original trendy toys, entertainment peripherals, wine culture, cross-border exhibitions, contemporary art and other elements into a diverse new cultural space. In 2022, Jin Ming, the founder of Jilian Technology, attended a public event as the founder and CEO of the distributed paradise brand taki Jilian, saying that "Jilian has been able to build takitoys original trendy toys, takimart ip business, takilucky lucky rewards, and takiplay today. The trendy entertainment matrix that integrates script art, etc. will continue to expand its boundaries in the form of entertainment and other forms in the future. "Currently, the takiplay script stores on Meituan and Dianping may show "closed" or cannot be contacted.
According to Jilian Technology’s information in the national enterprise credit information disclosure system, the number of employees has been decreasing year by year since 2019, from 184 to 29 in 2023.
"In the past, the advertising business was the core source of income for Jilian Technology, but now it has basically stopped. Today, hundreds of millions of yuan in revenue mainly come from e-commerce agency operations and card retail stores." A person familiar with the matter said, "In other words, Jilian Technology Chain Technology is no longer engaged in AI video-related business, and the AI video unicorn has existed in name only. "
As of press time, Jin Ming, the founder of Jilian Technology, still has not responded to The Paper.
