21st Century Business Herald reporter Sun Yan reports from Shanghai
In August, the low-altitude economy sector welcomed several financing rounds exceeding 100 million yuan.
On August 19th, the 21st Century Business Herald learned from Volant Aviation that the company recently completed an A++++ round of financing amounting to several hundred million yuan.
Previously, on August 5th, Xiaopeng Hui Tian announced that it had secured a $150 million Series B1 round of financing; on August 3rd, CATL and EHang signed a strategic investment and cooperation agreement, with CATL exclusively investing hundreds of millions of dollars to become a strategic investor in EHang.
So far this year, there have been more than ten financing rounds exceeding 100 million yuan in the low-altitude economy sector, involving nine companies, including Volant Aviation, Xiaopeng Hui Tian, Wofei Changkong, EHang, Star Luo Intelligence, Hongpeng Aviation, Tejin Intelligence, Shi Di Technology, and Zhuoyi Intelligence.
Financing and investment activities of 100 million yuan and above are mainly concentrated in the Series A equity financing of low-altitude economy enterprises. Huaxi Securities pointed out that the dense occurrence of early rounds (seed round, angel round, and Series A) indicates that these companies, after initially verifying the feasibility of their business models or technologies, will enter a critical phase of rapid expansion and market capture.
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Aircraft and power systems become the focus of large financing
In financing events reaching 100 million yuan and above, eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicles) companies are the darlings of primary market capital, with most of the financing funds used for the development, testing, and airworthiness certification of eVTOL aircraft.
It is worth mentioning that Volant Aviation has completed five rounds of financing this year. So far, the company's Series A1 round has accumulated 100 million US dollars. The New Fortune Industry Research Institute estimates that Volant is expected to be the first to achieve profitability in the future, which is also one of the important reasons for the active investment of primary market capital in this company.
"In the low-altitude economy industry chain, the status of low-altitude aircraft is highlighted. As the core of the entire low-altitude economy industry chain, it is the most concentrated part of investment and has attracted widespread attention," Huaxi Securities pointed out. Looking at the trend, the investment field will gradually extend from the entire machine to the entire chain of key systems, components, and low-altitude infrastructure-related fields.In the first eight months of this year, power systems have secured two rounds of substantial financing: Hongpeng Aviation's funding is primarily used for the design, research and development, and manufacturing of low-cost aviation engines that meet airworthiness standards, helping the company address the most critical power system bottlenecks in the low-altitude economy sector; Fengfei Aviation's financing is also allocated to the development of aviation batteries.
Furthermore, drone regulatory system company Tejin Intelligent, low-altitude intelligent robot company Xingluo Intelligent, and intelligent unmanned system company Zhuoyi Intelligent have also received financing exceeding 100 million yuan, mainly for product research and development, market expansion, and production capacity enhancement.
Looking at the geographical distribution of financing events, Huaxiang Securities also pointed out that financing related to the low-altitude economy has shown regional characteristics: Beijing is mainly focused on whole machine manufacturing, low Earth orbit satellites, and electric propulsion systems; Jiangsu is primarily involved in whole machine manufacturing, new materials, and components; Guangdong is mainly engaged in whole machine manufacturing, perception systems, and operational application fields.
Government Investment Funds Flood In
Regarding the sources of large financing, in addition to traditional venture capital and private equity funds, there are already government industry investment funds and government-guided funds.
For instance, Volant's A++++ round of financing was led by the Beijing Robotics Industry Fund, with participation from Jingguorui Fund, Shoucheng Capital, and Yan Chuang Group. In addition, in late August, Zero Gravity Aircraft Industry (Hefei) Co., Ltd. announced the completion of nearly 100 million yuan in Series A financing, led by Hefei High-tech Zone state-owned venture capital institution Hefei High Investment, with the University of Science and Technology of China Silicon Valley Guidance Fund, Guohua Investment, Yunsheng Capital, and Zifeng Capital following suit.
Ye Qian, a member of the Executive Committee of Shoucheng Holdings and President of Shoucheng Capital, stated that the mission of the Beijing Robotics Industry Fund is to discover and empower high-quality enterprises with genuine innovation and solid technology, aiding in the creation of a new engine of productivity that serves the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and even the entire country; eVTOL, as one of the most promising industries of the future, can form a high degree of synergy with Shoucheng Holdings' existing business segments such as parking, industrial park, and tourist area operations.
CVSource data shows that in July and August, five new low-altitude economy-themed funds were established, namely Ningbo Qianwan New District Aerospace Industry Fund, Jiujiang City Low-Altitude Economy Industry Guidance Sub-Fund, Gongqingcheng Qingyun Changkong Economic Industry Investment Guidance Fund, Suzhou Industrial Park Low-Altitude Economy Industry Investment Fund, and Shaoxing Wanlin Low-Altitude Economy Equity Investment Fund. Prior to this, low-altitude economy funds have also been set up in Beijing, Anhui, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, and other places.
CITIC Securities pointed out that the emergence of industry funds signifies that the low-altitude economy is gradually becoming the new darling of the capital market, with the potential to seize the initiative in future development. These funds not only provide valuable financial support for start-ups but also offer strong guarantees for the research and development and market expansion of established enterprises. By leveraging the role of industry funds, local governments hope to guide more social capital into the low-altitude economy sector, accelerate technological innovation and industrial chain improvement, and ultimately achieve rapid development of the low-altitude economy.
While government investment funds are active, corporate relocations are also taking place.On June 15th, Hefei announced that the eVTOL (Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing) manufacturing company Lan Yi Aviation has completed the industrial and commercial registration change and has relocated to Baohe Economic Development Zone. Previously, on May 31st, Lan Yi Aviation declared the completion of tens of millions of yuan in angel round financing, which was led by the Hefei Baohe government fund in Anhui.
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