Svolt Energy, the power battery company that spun off from Great Wall Motor, added several new shareholders on August 18, including Hubei Xiaomi Changjiang Industry Fund, backed by smartphone giant Xiaomi.

Svolt's registered capital increased to RMB 2.81 billion ($432 million), a 39.54 percent increase, according to information from data provider Qichacha.

In early August, Svolt Energy completed a Series B financing round totaling RMB 10.28 billion led by Bank of China Group Investment Limited with participation from Huaxing Growth Capital, a subsidiary of Chinese Renaissance. Xiaomi was not mentioned at the time.

Svolt Chairman and CEO Yang Hongxin said at the time that 25 automakers, including Great Wall Motor, Geely, Dongfeng Motor and PSA, had become its customers, and that it had received an RMB 16 billion order from Stellantis, the world's fourth-largest auto group.

On Tuesday, Svolt Energy's 15Gwh per year power battery project started in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, eastern China, with a total investment of RMB 5.6 billion.

The project has a total size of 482 mu and a new construction area of 480,000 square meters, according to information released by the local government.

Svolt has purchased advanced production equipment for the project, including an intelligent digital lithium battery production line, module control production line, fully automated coating production line and machine tool processing line.

Xiaomi announced its entry into the smart electric vehicle market on March 30 and subsequently invested in several related companies.

Xiaomi acquired Chinese self-driving technology company DeepMotion in early July at a potential valuation of RMB 1 billion, with up to a 20-strong team joining Xiaomi.

DeepMotion's last public funding round was a Series A round of tens of millions of dollars, which closed in March 2018. It is seeking funding in early 2020 at an expected valuation of $200 million.

Chinese power battery maker Svolt Energy to mass produce first cobalt-free batteries

(Photo source: Svolt Energy)