China's Zhongneng secures $460m in equity, debt funding
Zhongneng United, a Chinese construction equipment rental platform specializing in aerial work, has raised RMB3 billion ($460 million) in Series C equity and debt financing across three tranches.
State Power Investment Group Industrial Fund invested in the first tranche. Source Code Capital led the second tranche, which featured Buhuo Ventures. Five Star Holdings led the third tranche with participation from Shanghai-listed Shanghai Shibei Hi-Tech, Yimei Capital, Buhuo, Source Code, Oakwise Capital and Venture Smart Financial Holdings.
The Series B round closed at $50 million in April 2019, led by Source Code and featuring Buhuo. Zhongneng then raised RMB150 million in equity as an extension to its Series B and secured an additional RMB1 billion in bank financing. The company didn't name the investors in the extension.
Founded in 2016, Zhongneng rents out a range of aerial work platforms, including shear forklifts, straight-arm scaling ladder trucks, and trailer-mounted boom lifts. Its entire operation – from equipment rental to after-sales services – is now online, and the company makes strategic decisions based on the analysis of data collected from clients.
Zhongneng’s sales network is supported by 100 warehouses and service centers across 25 provinces and 300 cities. The company claims to have served more than 50,000 customers. It has participated in major construction projects such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Beijing Daxing International Airport, National Speed Skating Stadium, and Xiong'an High-speed Railway Station.
In early 2020, Zhongneng committed to building a one-stop engineering equipment leasing platform aimed at transforming the traditional equipment rental industry and solving structural problems such as low utilization rates and mismatches between demand and supply. It also uses internet technology to standardize and digitalize the entire industry chain.
Zhongneng claims to have accumulated a large amount of industry data and built a closed-loop system for online transactions including the entire life cycle of circulation, leasing services, maintenance, recycling, and remanufacturing.
“Zoneng United is a leader in the field of the industrial Internet. After continuous innovation and iteration, the company has reconstructed the new ecology of the leasing industry,” Yi Cao, founding partner of Source Code, said.
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