DST Electrical Vehicle Rental, a Chinese new-energy vehicle (NEV) fleet operator, has secured US$80 million in funding from a new investor, giving a boost to the company’s expansion plans.
The investment has been made by Decarbonization Partners, according to people familiar with the matter. Decarbonisation Partners is a joint venture between Singapore’s state-owned investor Temasek Holdings and BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager.
The Shenzhen-based NEV rental firm said in a statement that it will use the proceeds to improve its digital fleet management capabilities and expand its fleet. The funding will also be used for further investments in research and development, specifically in real-time computational analytics, DST said.
“As a firm believer and practitioner of carbon neutrality, we share the mutual goal of reducing carbon emissions with our new investor,” founder and chairwoman Haiying Zhang said in a statement. “[DST’s] solutions, digital intelligence and commitment to environmental responsibility not only set us apart but also drive our entire industry forward.”
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Investors in its previous funding rounds include Ingka Group, the owner of Swedish furniture retailer Ikea, and Singapore urban transport operator SMRT Corp, among others.
DST currently has about 100,000 logistics NEVs under management, serving more than 5,000 clients and 400,000 drivers on its digitalised logistics platform and offline service network. The start-up’s partners include logistics operators such as SF Express and JD Logistics.
In January last year, DST raised US$200 million from its series D funding round, which was preceded by a US$100 million series C fundraising in May 2021.
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Hong Kong-based venture capital fund Jeneration Capital Management, Chinese financial services provider Far East Horizon and European private equity firm Idinvest Partners have also previously invested in the start-up.
Despite an overall decline in private equity deals, advanced manufacturing related deals in China recorded an increase in their share of deal values in 2022, according to a Bain and Company report.
The rise was mainly driven by the electric vehicle value chain, which is riding on a continued policy tailwind pushing for sustainability.