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In January 2026, Inovance (Shenzhen Inovance Technology), a leading Chinese industrial automation company, made a Series B strategic investment in CYBSTAR (Zhejiang Cybstar Science and Technology). While this may appear to be a straightforward capital investment, it reflects a broader strategic shift as Inovance transitions from a leader in discrete automation to a full-scenario industrial solution provider.
As a pioneer in discrete automation, Inovance’s collaboration with CYBSTAR—an industrial software specialist focused on the process industry—addresses critical gaps in its portfolio. By combining hardware and software capabilities, the company is positioning itself to compete in the trillion-yuan process industry’s ongoing digital and intelligent transformation.
Inovance: Strengths in Discrete Automation, Gaps in the Process Industry
Industrial automation is broadly divided into two major segments: discrete manufacturing and the process industry, each with distinct technical requirements and operational characteristics.
Inovance has built a strong position in discrete automation through its expertise in hardware, including servo systems, frequency converters, PLCs, and industrial robots. These products are widely deployed across industries such as electronics (3C), new energy, and machine tools, creating both technological and channel advantages.
However, as Industry 4.0 initiatives accelerate, hardware alone is no longer sufficient to meet the demands of end users seeking full-scenario intelligent solutions. This limitation is particularly evident in the process industry—covering sectors such as chemicals, petrochemicals, coal chemicals, and advanced materials—where Inovance’s capabilities have historically been less developed.
The process industry operates under continuous production conditions, requiring high levels of stability, energy efficiency, and process optimization. The core challenge of digital transformation in this segment lies in advanced software and algorithmic intelligence, including capabilities such as Advanced Process Control (APC), full-condition optimization, and industrial internet platforms. These represent areas where Inovance has faced a strategic gap.
While Inovance has identified digitalization and industrial software as priorities, its existing software portfolio has been primarily focused on discrete manufacturing, limiting its ability to compete in process industry modernization projects and new installations.
CYBSTAR: Addressing the Strategic Gap
CYBSTAR directly addresses this gap. With extensive experience in process industry software, the company has developed specialized capabilities in areas such as APC, industrial internet platforms, and AI-driven optimization.
Its flagship product, Cyb-IDPC intelligent dynamic optimization control software, enables full-condition optimization and supports highly automated plant operations. It addresses key operational challenges, including start-up and shutdown processes, condition switching, and coordination across multiple production units.
To date, CYBSTAR has served more than 500 customers across sectors such as petrochemicals, coal chemicals, salt chemicals, fluorosilicon chemicals, phosphorus chemicals, and electric power.
Importantly, CYBSTAR focuses exclusively on software and solutions, with no hardware product line. This creates a strong complement to Inovance’s hardware-centric portfolio, with minimal overlap or competitive conflict. The partnership therefore enables a clear division of capabilities, forming the foundation for deeper integration.
Core Value: Integrated Hardware-Software Solutions for the Process Industry
The primary value of this investment lies in the creation of a fully integrated solution combining Inovance hardware with CYBSTAR software.
Inovance provides foundational control systems—including drives, PLCs, and sensors—forming a stable infrastructure layer. CYBSTAR contributes higher-level software and algorithmic capabilities, such as APC, industrial internet platforms, and digital twins, delivering advanced optimization and decision support.
Together, this creates an end-to-end architecture spanning from control systems to intelligent optimization. This approach not only addresses Inovance’s software limitations but also enables CYBSTAR to scale more rapidly by leveraging Inovance’s extensive customer base, national channel network, and project delivery capabilities.
From a competitive standpoint, this partnership positions both companies to address two key market opportunities: retrofit projects in existing facilities and new process industry developments. The combination of Inovance’s hardware and CYBSTAR’s software enables targeted entry into large-scale modernization initiatives, where demand for efficiency improvements and intelligent operations continues to grow.
Strategic Challenges and Long-Term Impact
Despite its strategic importance, this investment presents several challenges. These include aligning Inovance’s hardware-driven organizational culture with CYBSTAR’s software-centric approach, managing the complexity of process industry implementations, addressing competitive pressures, and overcoming talent shortages in software and process engineering.
However, over the long term, this investment represents a necessary strategic move. It shifts Inovance’s business model from hardware sales to value-based solutions, incorporating software, optimization services, and data-driven operations. This transition has the potential to improve profitability, strengthen customer relationships, and enhance long-term competitiveness.
From an industry perspective, the investment completes Inovance’s transition from discrete automation toward full-scenario automation, enabling participation across a broader range of industrial applications.
More broadly, this move reflects a growing trend in China’s industrial automation sector toward hardware-software integration. As collaboration between Inovance and CYBSTAR deepens, the partnership is expected to deliver integrated, AI-driven solutions for the process industry, strengthening Inovance’s position in the global industrial automation and Industrial AI landscape.