GWM-backed battery maker SVOLT bags 6 billion yuan in B+ funding round

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- SVOLT, a GWM (Great Wall Motor)-linked Chinese power battery maker, has secured 6 billion yuan ($942.11 million) in a B+ funding round, the company announced a few days ago via its WeChat account.

SVOLT B+ round financing signing ceremony; photo credit: SVOLT

The fresh fundraising attracts SVOLT's industrial chain partners including Sichuan Energy Investment, Han's Laser, Xingyu Co.,Ltd., the industry investment firms like China Mobile Capital, CDH Investments, Industrial Bank Co.,Ltd., PreIPO, PICC Capital, Taikang Asset, as well as some state-owned asset management platforms from Huzhou, Yancheng, and Shangrao. Meanwhile, several existing shareholders also joined as returning investors.

The proceeds from the new financing round will be mainly used for the R&D of new technologies, the construction of SVOLT’s manufacturing base 4th phase, R&D hub, and headquarters management center in Changzhou, said Yang Hongxin, Chairman and CEO of SVOLT.

Prior to the Series B+ financing, SVOLT had nabbed 13.78 billion yuan ($2.164 billion) in A and B funding rounds this year. To expand battery capacity, it has signed agreements this year to locate its battery manufacturing bases in cities including Suining, Huzhou, Lishui, Chengdu, and Changzhou.

At the Battery Day Event held last week, SVOLT launched the SV “600” Strategy for the corporate development plan through to 2025. Under this strategy, the company aims to hit an annual battery capacity target of 600GWh by 2025, significantly rising from the previously expected 320GWh.

The overall annual demands of lithium batteries for the electrification and energy storage in global transport industry are forecasted to exceed 1.8TWh by 2025, said SVOLT, citing predicated data of some market research institutes. SVOLT sets the 600GWh capacity target based on the aim of achieving 25% global market share and an expected capacity utilization rate of 75%.

For the first eleven months of 2021, SVOLT recorded 2.61GWh of power battery installed capacity, accounting for 2% of China’s total volume, according to the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance (CAPBIIA).