Chinese EV battery maker raises $120m in pre-IPO round

The company's products are mainly used in EVs, hybrids, and light EVs such as e-bikes and scooters, as well as for energy storage. It claims to have provided batteries for 45,000 vehicles in 2018.

Phylion has 3-gigawatt hours of annual output capacity and serves eight million customers globally. It has offices in Europe and India, and it plans to build manufacturing plants in Southeast Asia. Commercial partners include Changan Automobile, Geely Automobile, Chery Automobile, and Dongfeng Motor Corporation.

“The market for batteries for light EVs is huge. The share of lithium-ion batteries in the industry remains low, but we estimate a period of explosive growth is just around the corner. Leading players like Phylion are set to benefit from this opportunity,” said Xiaochen Zhou, a partner at Yingke.

China is one of the largest markets globally for EVs and hybrid cars with several well-funded start-ups including Xpeng Motors, CHJ Automotive, WM Motor, and US-listed Nio. Investors have also backed EV battery makers. Contemporary Amperex Technology, the country's leading producer of lithium batteries, received backing from the likes of Zhongjin Qiyuan National Emerging Fund, Boyu Capital and Yunfeng Capital prior to a domestic listing last year.

Yingke PE, founded in 2010, focuses on pre-IPO investment in the technology space. It has invested over 200 companies and has more than RMB20 billion in assets under management.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Industrials
• Expansion
• automobiles
• China
• manufacturing
• Growth capital