Sequoia backs China hydrogen battery player

The round came in two tranches, closed in September and December last year, according to a statement. It also featured Bridge Capital, Roton Capital, and BAIC Capital, part of state-owned carmaker Beijing Automotive Group.

Additional strategic support included hydrogen fuel cell system provider FTXT Energy Technology, bus manufacturer Yutong, and state-owned China General Technology (Genertec).

Thinkre was founded in 2008 by Yang Dawei with a focus on hydrogen-fuel vehicles. It was one of the first companies in China to industrialise components called perfluorinated ionic membranes and claims to have solved key problems related to the electrolyte membranes that make hydrogen fuel cells work.

Thinkre has undertaken a number of projects for the Jiangsu province government and the Ministry of Science and Technology’s SME Innovation Fund. It is also a close technical collaborator with academic institutions including Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen University, Beijing University of Chemical Technology.

The company has five laboratories, said to cover the entire industry value chain from raw material selection and evaluation, membrane material liquid preparation, membrane preparation, performance testing, and application testing.

Earlier this month, Chinese hydrogen power company TangFeng Energy raised CNY300m Series C led by GP Capital, Qianyan Investment, and a unit of Dongfeng Motor Corporation. TangFeng aims to achieve mass production of fuel cell membrane electrodes.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Expansion
• Technology
• energy storage
• Sequoia Capital
• automobiles
• China