If you take a closer look at document scans from the US Congress, the Dubai Government Human Resources Department, or Sri Lanka’s Land Reform Commission, a common thread emerges: many were produced using devices made by a Shenzhen-based company called CZUR, whose name is derived from the phrase “continue zeal until real.”
The digital transformation of office environments may attract less attention than consumer technology, but it is quietly becoming a fast-growing and lucrative market. CZUR is among the companies driving that growth behind the scenes.
Founded in 2013, CZUR began by developing artificial intelligence-powered hardware, initially focusing on scanners before expanding into projectors, conference terminals, and imaging software. Today, the company is believed to serve millions of government and enterprise customers across more than 107 countries and regions. Its client list includes IBM, Siemens, and Ameriabank.
Scanners themselves are not new. What sets CZUR apart, however, is its self-developed image processing technology, which addresses a longstanding pain point in document digitization: flattening curved pages and automatically removing fingers from scanned images.
“We didn’t want to follow in the footsteps of mature product categories,” said Zhou Kang, founder of CZUR. “We prefer to create new ones that truly improve efficiency and empower users who pursue innovation and extreme productivity.” According to Zhou, that approach underpinned the success of CZUR’s AI-driven scanners, which he said met a clear market demand.
Scanners continue to account for the bulk of CZUR’s revenue, generating annual earnings of close to RMB 150 million (USD 21 million) and sustaining year-on-year growth of more than 30%, according to the company. CZUR’s scanner products have ranked first in both sales and user ratings on Amazon for eight consecutive years.
As AI capabilities become increasingly standardized, competition in office hardware has shifted from adding incremental features to rethinking entire use cases. For companies like CZUR, competing with industry giants that control mature ecosystems means building capabilities across hardware, software, and services in-house to deliver a cohesive, system-level experience.
While this approach demands higher upfront investment and longer development cycles, it also gives smaller players a path to differentiate themselves in a market increasingly defined by product sameness.
Category pioneer
Before CZUR introduced its AI-driven scanners, traditional models were burdened by inefficiencies. Scanning thick books or bound documents often resulted in shadows, visible fingers, and poor optical character recognition accuracy.
“The industry’s core pain points had gone unresolved for years,” Zhou said.
According to 36Kr, CZUR addressed these issues by integrating its proprietary OCR engine with other AI technologies, transforming the scanner from a basic image capture device into a smart information processing terminal. Features such as automatic alignment correction, finger removal, smart cropping, and high-accuracy text recognition helped solve problems faced by government agencies, enterprises, libraries, and archives during large-scale digitization efforts.
More importantly, the company’s category innovation allowed it to establish a strong global position while avoiding direct competition with traditional scanner manufacturers.
Unlike consumer hardware, which relies on rapid iteration and breakout products, the office hardware market is shaped by service quality, distribution networks, and long sales cycles. CZUR has expanded through a mix of online and offline channels. “In overseas markets, we always go hybrid,” Zhou said. “Online through Amazon and our independent site, and offline through distributors who can provide timely service.”
Unexpectedly, individual users have emerged as a meaningful growth segment. “Based on our overseas data, individuals now account for nearly 30% of our users,” Zhou said.
That trend challenges the assumption that scanners are used exclusively by enterprises. Many personal buyers use the devices in home office settings. As remote work has become more common overseas, demand for professional-grade document digitization has risen, allowing CZUR to expand further into the consumer market. The shift has helped diversify revenue while building confidence for future category expansion.
For now, scanners remain CZUR’s primary revenue driver. Zhou said scanners account for the overwhelming majority of the company’s projected RMB 150 million (USD 21 million) revenue for 2025.
As the category matures, CZUR is focusing on iterative improvements. The company completed a hardware upgrade earlier in 2025 and plans to release an updated version of its software this month. It will be the first time the software is sold as a standalone product.
The move reflects CZUR’s broader ambition to evolve from a hardware manufacturer into an integrated ecosystem combining hardware, software, and services, with the goal of unlocking additional value from its existing customer base.
Competing differently
After establishing itself in scanning devices, CZUR turned its attention to the conference hardware market.
Industry estimates suggest that there are more than 100 million meeting rooms worldwide as of 2025, representing a market valued at roughly RMB 1 trillion (USD 140 billion). China alone accounts for more than 20 million meeting rooms, with an estimated market size exceeding RMB 200 billion (USD 28 billion).
Following four years of R&D investment totaling RMB 200 million (USD 28 million), CZUR launched StarryHub, a projection-based, AI-enabled conference system. The product aims to simplify meetings by replacing separate projectors, speakers, microphones, and displays with a single integrated device.
The transition proved challenging. When CZUR entered the market, interactive flat panels from players such as Maxhub and Huawei IdeaHub were already well established. Although StarryHub offered a differentiated concept, customers in this segment tended to prioritize price over convenience. First-generation sales fell short of expectations, and Zhou acknowledged that the product’s positioning was unclear and that the company lacked cost advantages relative to major panel manufacturers.
Drawing lessons from that experience, CZUR plans to launch a second-generation StarryHub in January. The new version will target the high-end market for screens above 100 inches, using laser projection and avoiding the intense price competition common in the sub-80-inch segment. It will include a more powerful computing board, upgraded AI-based audio and video capabilities, and an exclusive “wall writing” interaction mode.
For customers with smaller budgets, CZUR is also developing a screenless meeting robot priced RMB 3,000–4,000 (USD 420–560). The device is designed to connect to existing televisions or monitors to enable smart meeting functions.
Zhou described the compact device as a potential turning point. “It’s essentially a full-function Android host that integrates a camera, microphone, speaker, system, and AI capabilities, and it’s compatible with all major conferencing software,” he said.
The approach builds on CZUR’s accumulated strengths in AI-powered audio and video systems. Its proprietary sound pickup technology enables clear voice capture from distances of eight to ten meters. The AI-enabled camera can track speakers, recognize gestures, and automatically capture whiteboard content. The company’s “air writing” feature allows users to annotate projected screens using a dedicated pen.
“These kinds of innovations are impossible without full-stack R&D,” Zhou said. “Taking charge of everything from hardware to software to interactive intelligence allows us to create genuinely differentiated products.”
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Ou Xue for 36Kr.