Guangzhou Greater Bay Technology, which is incubated by Chinese state-owned automaker GAC Group, has closed nearly 1 billion yuan ($149.8 million) in a Series A round to become the latest unicorn company from China’s new energy sector.
The Guangzhou-based startup said in a statement on Thursday that it reached the unicorn valuation of over $1 billion with the completion of two venture rounds less than two years after its inception.
The startup said that the Series A round attracted investments from “multiple investment institutions” and existing shareholders, but it did not name the new investors. In its Pre-A round in July 2021, Greater Bay Technology raised “hundreds of millions of yuan” from lead investors, which are two affiliates of Hong Kong-listed investment bank GF Securities, as well as participating investors BOC & UTRUST Private Equity Fund Management, Guangzhou Industrial Investment Fund Management, and Scheme Capital.
Founded in September 2020, Greater Bay Technology specialises in the R&D, manufacturing, and sales of extreme fast charging (XFC) battery technology, as well as the next-generation high-performance energy storage devices and compatible systems.
The startup plans to use the fresh capital to strengthen the R&D of its XFC technology, accelerate the manufacturing of XFC batteries, and promote the popularity of the overall XFC ecosystem.
It is in the process of constructing the Phase I projection of a production and R&D centre in Nansha District in southern Guangzhou City. The Phase I project, which is expected to be completed and put into use in 2023, will add 8GWh of XFC batteries to its annual production capacity and power an additional 120,000 new energy vehicles (NEVs).
Greater Bay Technology targets to reach an annual production capacity of 120GWh by 2025, with manufacturing facilities across China’s central, southern, northern, and southwestern areas.