According to data from Cailian Press Venture Capital, there were a total of 45 private equity investment and financing events in the domestic carbon neutrality field in May, a decrease of 8.16% from the previous month's 49. The total disclosed financing amount was approximately 2.345 billion yuan, a decrease of 63.37% from the previous month's 6.402 billion yuan.
According to the data of the Chuangtou Tong of Cailian Technology, a total of 45 private equity investment and financing events occurred within the statistical scope of domestic carbon neutrality in May, a decrease of 8.16% from the previous month's 49; The disclosed financing amount totaled approximately 2.345 billion yuan, a decrease of 63.37% from the previous month's 6.402 billion yuan.
Investment and financing situation in segmented fields
In terms of the number of investment events, the fields of photovoltaics, hydrogen energy, battery materials, synthetic biology, and lithium batteries were more active in May.
In terms of the total financing amount, the charging and swapping track has the highest disclosed financing amount of 1.5 billion yuan; NIO Energy obtains strategic investment of 1.5 billion yuan from Wuhan Guangchuang Innovation Emerging Technology Venture Capital Fund Partnership Enterprise (Limited Partnership) (referred to as "Wuhan Guangchuang Fund") and other institutions, which is the financing event with the highest disclosed amount in the field of carbon neutrality in May.
Popular investment rounds
In terms of investment rounds, in addition to equity financing, angel rounds of financing had the largest number of events in the field of carbon neutrality in May, with 12 events, accounting for approximately 27%; followed by Pre-A rounds, with 7 events, accounting for approximately 15%; and early investments were relatively active. In terms of the amount of investment in each round, strategic investment has the highest disclosed amount, which is 1.5 billion yuan; followed by Pre-A round, which is about 330 million yuan.
Active investment and financing regions
From the perspective of regions, Beijing, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangsu and other places have more companies involved in carbon neutrality concepts in May, with 8 companies in Beijing ranking first, and 7 companies in Zhejiang and Guangdong respectively. Looking at individual cities, apart from Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai each have 4 companies invested, tied for second.
Active investment institutions
In May, investment institutions that laid out in the field of carbon neutrality included well-known investment institutions such as Dacheng Cai Zhi, PwC Capital, Songhe Capital, Tongchuang Weiye, Yida Capital, Dongfang Fuhai, Wuyuefeng Capital, CICC Capital, Xianfeng Changqing, and Jimpower Capital;
As well as industrial investment parties such as Shanghai Airport, Honglidada, Super Energy Group, Huaqiang New Energy, Shunwei Capital, and Maotai Innovation Investment Fund;
In addition, government-backed investment platforms and government-guided funds such as Xian Caijin, Changxing Fund, Three Gorges Fund, Yuanhe Chenkun, Hefei Chantu, Hefei Jiantou, Greater Bay Area Fund, Changzhou High-tech Investment, Wujin High-tech Investment, Beijing Guoguan.
The active investment parties in May are listed below:
Investment events worth attention
NIO Energy completes 1.5 billion yuan strategic financing
NIO Energy was established in 2017 and is a mobile internet-based charging and swapping solution operator. With the help of NIO Cloud technology, it has built an energy service system that is "rechargeable, interchangeable, and upgradable". It provides all-scenario charging services to car owners. The Enterprise Innovation Evaluation Laboratory shows that NIO Energy's stock penetration in the biomass energy industry is rated A-level, and there are currently more than 100 publicly disclosed patent applications, of which the proportion of invention applications exceeds 70%, mainly around swappable stations, electricity methods, parking agencies, disassembly and assembly institutions, and matching methods etc. are undergoing technical layouts.
On May 31, the company announced that it had obtained a strategic investment of 1.5 billion yuan from Wuhan Guangchuang Innovation Emerging Technology Venture Capital Fund Partnership Enterprise (Limited Partnership) (referred to as "Wuhan Guangchuang Fund") and other institutions. This round of financing will be used for technology research and development, manufacturing, and operation in charging, swapping, energy storage, battery services, and energy Internet.
According to data from Chuangtou Tong, some domestic companies invested in the charging and swapping fields are as shown in the table below:
Huiyao Pinshang completes over 100 million yuan A round, A+ round financing
Established in 2022, Huiyao Pinshang is a developer of photovoltaic power station intelligent operation and maintenance, as well as flexible photovoltaic support system, focusing on the R&D, design, manufacturing, promotion and application of flexible photovoltaic support system, and distributed photovoltaic power station intelligent operation and maintenance services.
According to the enterprise innovation evaluation laboratory, Huiyao Pinshang's scientific and technological innovation ability in the solar energy industry is rated as B-level, with a total of 26 publicly filed patent applications, of which the proportion of invention applications exceeds 34%, mainly focusing on the technical layout of the fields such as photovoltaic support, photovoltaic system, terminal support, photovoltaic module, and connector.
On May 9th, the company announced the completion of over 100 million yuan in Series A and A+ financing. The round of financing was led by Dachen Cai Zhi, and Co-Invested by Qiming Venture Partners and Northerly Asset Management. The funding is mainly used for the research and development of new flexible photovoltaic support system, the construction of intelligent manufacturing base, the expansion of domestic and foreign markets, and the improvement of the supply chain system.
According to data from Chuangtou Tong, some domestic companies in the photovoltaic field that have received investment this year are as shown in the following table:
Weiyuan Synthesis secures a new round of equity financing.
Established in 2021, Weiyuan Synthesis is a synthetic biotechnology developer dedicated to producing various compounds using low-carbon, energy-saving and sustainable methods, applied in areas such as pharmaceuticals, daily chemicals, agriculture, food, fodder, and materials.
According to the enterprise innovation evaluation laboratory, Weiyuan Synthesis's scientific and technological innovation capacity in the biomedical industry is rated CCC-level, with only one publicly disclosed patent application: application of salt-tolerant Bacillus and its produced fructooligosaccharides. On May 16th, business information data showed that Weiyuan Synthesis received a new round of equity financing, with investment institutions including Beijing Guoguan, Shunxi Fund.
According to data from Chuangtou Tong, some of the investment companies in the domestic synthetic biology field that have been invested this year are as shown in the following table:
List of investment and financing events in May:
Worth noting fundraising events.
Hubei sets up green low-carbon development fund with a scale of 10 billion yuan.
On May 19th, Huangpi District signed an agreement with Hubei Hongtai Group to jointly establish the Hubei Province Green Low Carbon Development Fund, further guiding financial resources and social capital to gather in the Huangpi green low-carbon industry. The total scale of the fund is 10 billion yuan, jointly established by central enterprises, Hubei Hongtai Group, Huangpi District People's Government, and Hubei Investment Guidance Fund. It mainly invests in energy-saving and environmentally-friendly, green transportation and low-carbon technology industries, and operates in the way of “industry fund + sub-fund + direct investment“, which can invest in sub-funds established by Huangpi District, such as the rail transit industry fund, as well as directly invest in financing enterprises in the district, supporting the landing of major strategic projects, and focusing on the key industries to strengthen the chain, fill the chain, and extend the chain.
Lingang Frontier Atlas Yangzhou New Energy Fund raised to 1 billion yuan.
On May 18th, the 2024 2nd Yangzhou Hydrogen Energy Industry High-quality Development Conference was held in Yangzhou. At the meeting, the economic development zone of Yangzhou and Lingang Frontier Investment signed an agreement on additional investment in the “Lingang Frontier Atlas Yangzhou New Energy Fund” to 1 billion yuan. The Lingang Frontier Atlas Yangzhou New Energy Fund was established in August 2023, and mainly invests in the upstream and downstream of the new energy industry chain, including the photovoltaic, energy storage, battery and other segments, as well as new materials, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence projects in the field of the industrial chain extension.
Nanwang Yuexiu Dual Carbon Fund completes record-filling, with a scale of 1 billion yuan.
On May 10th, the Nanwang Yuexiu Dual Carbon Equity Investment Fund (Guangzhou) Partnership Enterprise (Limited Partnership) (referred to as the “Nanwang Yuexiu Dual Carbon Fund”) was registered with the China Securities Fund Association. The Nanwang Yuexiu Dual Carbon Fund is the first special fund that supports the development of the “New Energy Storage Innovation Center” launched by Southern Power Grid Company, and is also the first fund initiated and set up after the establishment of Nanwang Private Equity Fund Management Co., Ltd. The fund has a total scale of 1 billion yuan, and was jointly initiated by Nanwang Energy Storage, Nanwang Technology, Dinghe Insurance, and introduced external capital in large proportion, with Yuexiu Capital Holdings Group's proportion of capital commitment reaching 70%. The fund is managed by Nanwang Fund Management Company, and leads the fund establishment as well as subsequent operation work. The Nanwang Yuexiu Dual Carbon Fund will focus on supporting the development of the “New Energy Storage Innovation Center” and the construction of the new energy storage industry chain, providing capital support for the high-quality development of the innovation chain in the new energy storage industry chain of the Southern Power Grid Company through the “technology-industry-finance” cycle, and promoting the deep integration development of the “four links.”
Secondary market overview
No carbon neutral industry-related companies listed on the A-share market in May, and one listed company launched a targeted additional issue plan.
Overseas venture-capital cases.
Frore Systems completes $80 million Series C financing.
Frore Systems, located in California, USA, is a heat dissipation chip developer primarily engaged in active cooling chip R&D, production and sales that can help devices dissipate and cool heat, thereby enhancing device performance.
On May 29th, the company announced that it had completed an $80 million Series C financing round led by Fidelity Management & Research Company. Prosperity7 and all existing investors, including Mayfield Fund, Clear Ventures, Addition, Qualcomm Ventures, MVP Ventures, Stepstone Group and Alumni Ventures also participated in this round of financing. The funds will be used to enrich the AirJet product line, expand operating scale, and meet the rapidly growing demand for solid-state active heat dissipation solutions.
Meati Foods has completed a billion-dollar Series C1 financing round.
Meati Foods was founded in 2017 and is a food technology company that produces protein using fungal structural fibers. The company has its own artificial protein meat brand called "Eat Meati", which has introduced products such as classic meatloaf, crispy meatloaf, classic steak, Latin-style grilled steak, etc.
On May 14th, the company announced the completion of over USD 100 million Series C1 financing. Grosvenor Food and AgTech led this round of financing, with Prelude Ventures, Bond, Revolution Growth and Congruent following. The funds raised will help meet the growing demand for products.
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