ForwardX Raises $10 Million for Self-Pushing Luggage: Travel Startup Funding This Week

The total publicized this week was more than $27 million. >>ForwardX, a luggage manufacturer, has raised $10 million in financing. Its soon-to-debut Ovis brand luggage uses cameras and object-recognition software to follow a traveler around, by their side, like a dog. CDH Venture and Eastern Bell Venture Capital led the round. The company, founded in late 2016 in Beijing, China, separately raised $1 million from angel investors. Smart luggage is a tough category. Previous attempts by companies like BlueSmart stumbled due to government regulations about batteries and other factors. ForwardX claimed it could avoid those problems. A separate concern: The startup only sold a few hundred in advance orders and retail distribution will be costly. >>Surkus, a Los Angeles-based provider of techno