Since the exclusive 36æ°ª report in Q2 of 2017 revealed that the shared charging treasure had received its first financing, the sector has rapidly gained immense popularity. As one former U.S. dollar fund partner put it, "Wang Gang votes for Zhu Xiaohu, Zhu Xiaohu invests in Jingwei, and Jingwei brings in strategic capital," each new investor or institution added to the mix seemed to fan the flames even more. With each vote of confidence, the shared charging treasure trend caught fire, surpassing the hype around bicycles in Q2.
From Q2 to Q3, the initial fervor surrounding shared charging treasures cooled slightly, prompting some to question whether the trend had already peaked. However, the former Cloud Charger CEO launched his own shared charging treasure project, and Lei Jun's "Monster Charging" also announced an additional RMB A-round financing. Just recently, at the "WISE * Times New Sharing" industry summit hosted by 36æ°ª, I learned exclusively that the shared charging treasure startup "Fill" has secured over RMB 500 million in Series A funding. This round was backed by financial institutions like Weihun Capital, along with executives from Longfan Media Group and Focus Media Group, as well as government guidance funds.
This marks the largest financing record yet in the shared charging treasure space.
[Image: "Fill" Founder Yu Yi]
Since mid-2016, "Fill" has been developing two generations of products. The first generation operates in a small cabinet format, housing 16 charging units per cabinet. These units can be accessed via an app or WeChat official account, offering a simple rental model where users pay just one yuan per day. To encourage turnover, each unit must be returned to nearby outlets within 48 hours after use, otherwise it is considered purchased. To deter theft, "Fill" offers three user options: a 99-yuan deposit, real-name verification, or integration with Sesame Credit.
Currently, the first-generation product, primarily targeting restaurants, cafes, airports, and high-speed rail stations, has established over 500 offline locations in the Beijing area.
The second-generation product, now in mass production, takes a desktop approach with an electronic screen integrated into the stand. According to Yu Yi, the founder of "Fill," this design opens up opportunities for advertising distribution and other value-added services. The backing of Focus Media Group and Longfan Media Group highlights the potential of this media aspect in the future.
Shared charging treasures are standardized, with production relying on mature foundries, meaning the entry barrier isn't particularly high. Following the logic of shared bicycles, the core competitiveness of these companies lies in deployment speed and efficient capital utilization.
As offline point resources grow scarce and placement costs increase, "Fill" has adopted strategies such as splitting revenue or providing gifts to merchants (including their top-performing employees) to strengthen ties with them.
Yu Yi mentioned that this RMB 500 million Series A funding will primarily be used for equipment production. Moving forward, the domestic plan includes investing RMB 400 million in hardware equipment:
We aim to cover 25 cities this year, using a direct model in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, while adopting a city partnership system for the remaining cities.
[Image: "Fill" Charging Units]
At the same time, "Fill" plans to expand internationally, investing RMB 100 million in hardware equipment overseas. Through strategic partnerships with national tourism boards, they aim to establish 20 outlets in Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe.
Regarding the supply chain, "Fill" collaborates with 10 factories including Dongguan Tianjie Industry and has formed strategic investment partnerships with Foxconn Technology Group to ensure production capacity.
On the team front, founder and CEO Yu Yi is an experienced entrepreneur with a background in group business operations. He previously served as Vice President of Longfan Media Group and Executive Director of Milian Technology. Yu Yi notes that the core founding team hails from prestigious institutions like Tsinghua University, hardware companies in the Xiaomi ecosystem, Meituan, Tuniu, and Huawei.
As "Financial" reporter Song Wei described the bicycle race earlier this year, the "charging treasure" war is moving even faster than the bicycle — from fundraising to deployment to global expansion:
After experiencing group buying, takeaway services, taxi apps, and bicycle races, capital is already well-versed in quickly building unicorns. They know the path well, so they're eager to expedite the process tenfold or hundredfold.
Whether it's bicycles or charging treasures, there aren't many stories to tell beyond rapid growth, fierce competition, and scaling up.
Solar tracker system,Fully automatic solar tracker,Solar tracker structure,Solar tracker bracket
Hebei Shuobiao New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. , https://www.pvbracketsystem.com