Laidian, a China-based mobile charger sharing services provider, has raised $20m in series A funding from a consortium co-led by quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group, according to China Money Network.
Redpoint Ventures China co-led the round, which reportedly also included Unity Ventures and Fang Jin, chairman of lithium-ion battery module producer Scud.
Incorporated in 2014, Laidian installs storage boxes containing either 12 or 40 chargers in public spaces such as train stations, airports and tourist attractions.
Users can rent a charger by scanning a QR code and paying through a third-party service such as Apple Pay. Laidian says it has placed more than 1,600 boxes across more than 80 cities in China.
The series A capital will go towards the deployment of 100,000 large storage boxes and between 500,000 and 800,000 smaller boxes over the next two years.
Yuan Wenda, managing partner at Redpoint, said: “Laidan has a better business model and higher entry barrier with its own patents.
“It focuses on medium-to-large (charging) machines which requires longer research time, and partners with hundreds of companies and internet operators. In the future it can cover more places and can handle the challenges of a price war.”