Power Bank Sharing Company Energy Monster Raises $300M and Aims for US IPO
On Feb. 10, Reuters reported that Energy Monster, a Chinese company that specializes in power-sharing devices, plans to file an initial public offering (IPO) in the U.S., aiming to raise US$300 million.
According to the news agency, Energy Monster Charging is currently negotiating with investment entities including Citigroup, CICC, China Renaissance and Goldman Sachs, seeking to go public in the first half of this year.
The shared power bank provider was established in Shanghai in 2017 and currently has more than 100 million registered users.
The firm has already completed five rounds of financing. The latest was the C round worth 500 million yuan and backed by investors including SoftBank Ventures Asia, BOC International, Goldman Sachs China, Sky9 Capital, Hillhouse Capital Group, Shunwei Capital, Advantech Capital, and former Meituan COO Jiawei Gan.
Energy Monster is one of the main players in the emerging Chinese shared-power bank market, which sees Tencent-backed Xiaodian, as well as Jiedian and Laidian, both partnership with Ant Group, compete for shares.
SEE ALSO: Meituan Dianping Re-enters Power Bank Sharing Business With Recruitment Plans
As of December 2020, there were more than 520 shared power bank-related companies in the country, according to data from enterprise data provider Tianyancha. More than 75% of them were established either in or after 2017, a year that saw as many as 120 such businesses open their doors, an increase of 195% compared to the year before.
