EqualOcean has learned that Initial Energy Science&Technology Co., Ltd ("IEST")(Chinese: 元能科技), a battery testing equipment research and development company, has completed tens of millions of CNY in pre-A round financing.
Electric car lithium battery pack and power connections
Founded in 2018, IEST is an innovative testing solution provider, located in the new energy battery high-end testing equipment, to help new energy raw material companies and battery companies improve the success rate of battery research and development and quality control of the yield rate.
EVTank data shows that in 2022, the total global lithium battery shipments amounted to as much as 957.7 GWh, a sharp increase of 70.3% year on year. The wide application of lithium-ion batteries in 3C, power and energy storage fields has driven the industry's rapid growth. This hot new energy track has attracted more players.
For battery companies, the market competition is fierce. Externally, more and more automobile companies opt for self-research and self-production of batteries, a large number of new entrants emerge; internally, to expand production on a large scale, we must face the concerns of product safety and overcapacity. In order to cope with such fierce competition, new energy power battery companies need to invest more energy in research and development, product innovation, and process and yield improvement.
In the lithium industry, the lack of certain testing methods and the lack of uniformity in testing methods have made it difficult to monitor the quality of incoming materials at all levels of the industry chain, which has led to a decrease in yield and an increase in operating costs. In the four major aspects of battery R&D and design, manufacturing, use and after-sales, IEST has launched four major product categories and more than 20 products and technical solutions for different test items and requirements.
At present, IEST has launched six world's first testing instruments, obtained a number of patents, and achieved technical industrialization cooperation with CATL, BYD, Xiamen University, Tsinghua University and other enterprises and institutions, a variety of new testing instruments are widely used in raw material enterprises, battery cell enterprises, battery terminals and domestic research institutes. With the gradual increase of foreign investment in the new energy industry, IEST in Europe, the United States, Japan, Korea and other regions the number of customers is also snowballing.
In the first five years of its establishment, IEST has focused on serving key customers, accumulating industry experience, and realizing R&D deliveries, and Starting from 2023, IEST will recognize the release of multiple product lines, realize production line deliveries, and expand to the upstream and downstream of the industry.
This round of financing is IEST's first in five years, led by FounderHF Capital (Chinese: 方正和生投资), followed by XWJT Capital (Chinese: 厦钨嘉泰), Xiamen High-tech Funding (Chinese: 厦门高新投), Hefang Capital (Chinese: 合方资本). The funds will be used to develop the core business, including further increasing investment in R&D, expanding production, team building and marketing.