Energy Monster, the China-based power-bank leasing service backed by corporate investors Alibaba, SoftBank and Xiaomi, has raised $150m in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
The company’s holding group, Smart Share Global, priced almost 17.7 million American depositary shares (ADSs) – each representing two ordinary shares – at $8.50 each, below the $10.50 to $12.50 range set for the offering.
Founded in 2017, Energy Monster produces connected mobile charging products for use in public spaces including restaurant chains and bars. Taobao, a subsidiary of e-commerce group Alibaba, had provided it with $124m in funding in January this year, according to the IPO prospectus.
SoftBank Ventures Asia, a corporate venturing vehicle for internet and telecommunications group SoftBank, led a $71.4m series C round for the company in late 2019, investing alongside Hillhouse Capital and Shunwei Capital.
Energy Monster had secured $30m in funding the year before in a round featuring smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi as well as Hillhouse Capital, Shunwei Capital, New Horizon Capital and Gan Jiawei.
Hillhouse, Shunwei Capital, Crystal Stream, Bluerun Ventures and Sky9 Capital provided $30m in funding for Energy Monster in November 2017 having all taken part in a $14m series A round four months earlier together with GF Xinde. Its earliest funding was a seed round of undisclosed size in May the same year.
Taobao is the company’s largest investor, with a 15.3% stake down from 16.5%. Its other notable investors include Hillhouse (12.6% post-IPO), Shunwei Capital (8.4%), Xiaomi (7.9%), SoftBank Ventures Asia (7.2%) and Advantech Capital (7%).
Underwriters Goldman Sachs (Asia), Citigroup Global Markets, China Renaissance Securities (Hong Kong), Tiger Brokers (NZ), BOCI Asia, Futu and SNB Finance Holdings have a 30-day option to buy nearly 2.65 million more ADSs, potentially boosting the IPO to over $172m.
