Newlink Group, a Beijing-based company that leverages the power of AI and big data technologies to digitise energy transportation, has snapped 900 million yuan ($133 million) in its latest funding round via its subsidiaries, the firm announced last Saturday.
Nasdaq-listed NaaS Technology, one of the subsidiary companies of Newlink that offers electric vehicle charging services in China, raised $30 million (around 200 million yuan) via a private placement of ordinary shares from an institutional investor on December 1, according to a company announcement. However, NaaS Technology did not divulge the investor name.
Newlink Qifu, or Nenglianqifu, another subsidiary that leverages Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT), software as a service (SaaS), and AI technologies to offer a one-stop energy management service to businesses, notched 400 million yuan ($59.1 million). It counts Xiaomi, ZTO Express, and China Merchants Bank among some of its notable clients, Newlink claimed.
Newlinks, or Zhongnenglian, an energy asset management subsidiary, also snapped 300 million yuan ($44.3 million) in the latest funding round, bringing the total capital raised to 900 million yuan.
The combined funding raised by the three subsidiaries has brought the group’s total capital raise in 2022 to 1.87 billion yuan ($276.3 million).
In January 2022, the group completed the second tranche of its Series E round led by CR & CNIC Investment, a unit of China Resources’ investment vehicle CR Capital Management, bringing the total capital raised in the round to ‘hundreds of millions of US dollars’, the company said in a WeChat post.
Founded in 2016, Newlink is a fast-growing online technology platform that helps match drivers in China with the best gas stations and charging piles. Its solutions help both gas station and electric vehicle charging station owners to manage their daily operations.
As the world’s largest emitter of carbon-dioxide, China has set a target to become carbon neutral before 2060. The move has prompted companies across the renewable energy, waste recycling, and energy management sectors to jump on the cleantech bandwagon.
The fundraising announcement comes seven months after NaaS Technology went public on the NASDAQ on June 13. In the first three quarters of 2022, the firm saw its gross transaction value reach around 1.9 billion ($274.8 million), up 2.35 times over the same period of 2021, per the firm.
In January 2022, NaaS secured $87 million in a pre-IPO round joined by Anji Asset Administration, Real Fund, CICC Capital, Bain Capital, GSR United Capital, and Sino Pacific Capital.