Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited’s additional investment has won 750 million US dollars in Series A financing.

　　On February 13th, Geely Automobile Holdings Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Geely Automobile") announced that its subsidiary, Jikry Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jikry Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.") entered into a share purchase agreement with five investors including Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, and issued about 139 million A-series preferred shares, accounting for 6.15% of the total share capital, with a total price of 750 million US dollars (equivalent to 5.091 billion yuan), with a post-investment valuation of 1.

　　Geely Automobile said that the stock purchase will enhance the market image of Krypton by introducing widely recognized market leading investors in their respective industries, provide opportunities for Krypton to raise funds, and broaden its investor base to expand and develop its business in the rapidly developing electric vehicle industry.

　　Received $750 million in financing

　　It is understood that this round of financing is a round of financing, which is invested by Amnon Shashua, founder and CEO of Autopilot Technology Company Mobileye, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, Yuexiu Industrial Fund, Trading Fund and Quzhou Xin An Zhi Fund.

　　Among them, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited is a long-term strategic partner of Krypton, and has made additional investment in this round. Yuexiu Industrial Fund, Trading Fund and Quzhou Xin An Zhi Fund will help Kykrypton integrate its industrial resources and help Kykrypton to further innovate and develop in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.

　　The funds raised this time will be mainly used for research and development of krypton products and technologies, global business development and user experience improvement. After the delivery, Geely Group will hold about 54.73% of Krypton’s equity (calculated on the converted basis). Krypton is still an indirect non-wholly-owned subsidiary of Geely Group, and its financial performance will continue to be incorporated into the consolidated financial statements of Geely Group.

　　According to the data of Sky Eye Survey, in August 2021, Krypton completed the Pre-A round of financing, which was led by Intel Capital Strategy, followed by Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, Bili Bili, Hongshang Group and Boyu Investment, with a total investment of 500 million US dollars, accounting for about 5.6% of Krypton shares after the investment.

　　Among the new brands of car-making, Krypton has a certain industrial advantage based on the 36-year automobile industry foundation of Geely Holding Group. As of January 31, 2023, the cumulative delivery of krypton has exceeded 80,000 vehicles, and the innovation forces have delivered the record fastest. In 2023, Krypton plans to launch two new products to enrich the product matrix. By 2025, the planned sales volume of Krypton will reach 650,000 units, ranking the top three in the world in the market share of high-end electric vehicles.

　　Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited is an important partner of Krypton in the industrial chain. On January 1, 2023, Krypton released the 2023 Krypton 001, with a total of four models. The 2023 WE version of the car can be upgraded to a 140kWh Kirin battery with an optional 1032km battery life, equipped with a silicon carbide rear motor.

　　Kirin battery is the latest generation battery in Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, and it is the first Krypton model. It can increase the volume utilization rate of battery pack to 72%, achieve the highest energy density of 255Wh/kg, release 6% of energy space, and support 5-minute fast hot start and 10-minute fast charge.

　　Industry accelerated differentiation

　　Since 2023, the competition in the new energy automobile industry has become fierce, and new cars have been launched intensively.

　　The extremely Krypton MPV model Krypton 009 was delivered on January 15, 2023, and it was announced on February 3 that it would release its third new car Zeekr X. On February 8th, LI released its first five-seat SUV, Ideal L7, with a starting price of 319,800 yuan. Pre-sale of the run-by-run C11 extended version was started on February 9th, and delivery was started in the first quarter. Zhiji LS7, the first intelligent electric medium and large SUV of Zhiji Automobile, a subsidiary of SAIC, was launched on February 10th, and the number of blind orders has exceeded 10,000.

　　Xpeng Motors recently revealed in an internal letter to employees that five new and modified models will be launched this year. The modified models will include P7, G3 and P5, while the new models include Coupe SUV and MPV. It is worth noting that Xpeng Motors announced on January 30th that Wang Fengying, the former general manager of Great Wall Motor, joined Xpeng Motors as the company’s president, who was fully responsible for the company’s product planning, product matrix and sales system. According to the data, Wang Fengying worked in Great Wall Motor for more than 30 years.

　　BYD released a brand-new high-end car brand "Looking Up" and its core technology "Easy Sifang" on January 5th, and a million-class new energy off-road vehicle U8 and a pure electric supercar U9 also appeared simultaneously. Everbright Securities said that BYD accurately positioned the user portraits of its products, covered new energy vehicles with mainstream price bands, and expanded the high-end market to build a product matrix containing "Ocean+Dynasty+Tengshi+Looking Up". Relying on pure electricity and plug-in platform technology to iteratively upgrade battery performance and structure will drive BYD to transform into a high-end intelligent brand image.

　　TF Securities believes that the differentiation of the automobile industry in 2023 is the main theme. Fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles will accelerate the differentiation, and the internal differentiation of new energy vehicle enterprises will also intensify, and the head effect will be prominent. Great Wall Securities said that at present, the new energy automobile industry is still in the stage of struggle in China, and only the top 15 automobile brands in the market can achieve annual sales of more than or close to 100,000 vehicles. The market elimination mechanism has begun to take shape, and inefficient production capacity will be cleared soon.