Sequoia, Dayone back China solid state battery developer

Other Investors include Guangzhou Automobile Group's GAC Capital, Borun Capital, and Tianqi Capital. The company closed its Series A on more than CNY 100m in February from Welight Capital, Borun Capital, Yuan Capital, Scheme Capital, and Asia Green Fund Management, according to AVCJ Research.

Founded in 2019, Enpower focuses on ASSBs as a safer and longer-lasting alternative to lithium-ion batteries. While the latter represents the mainstream choice, there are issues around energy density and safety, as well as a limited operating temperature range.

Enpower claims solid-state batteries have a 20-30% cost advantage over lithium-ion solutions, while a shorter production process means reduced energy consumption.

Its entry point is unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) because these display high sensitivity to energy density. It has jointly developed high-energy-density solid-state batteries for SoftBank Group’s ultra-high-altitude drones.

Trial production for ASSBs has already begun and test flights of UAVs carrying the sample B model will begin this year. Enpower's next target is electric vehicles. The company wants to build its own factories and cooperate with carmakers to achieve large-scale mass production. Negotiations with several carmakers are ongoing.

The new capital will go towards product iteration, market expansion, and building out production lines.

"Solid-state batteries will completely change the future of new energy vehicles and people’s travel experience. It solves the core pain points such as safety and energy density, and provides excellent charging performance,” said Xiang Dai, founder and chairman of Enpower, in a statement.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Early-stage
• Cleantech
• Technology
• China
• Dayone Capital
• Sequoia Capital
• Electric Vehicles