After several years of capital flowing to finished-vehicle makers, primary-market money in China’s EV ecosystem is moving upstream and into infrastructure. This note maps where rounds are concentrating and why.
The rotation
Deal counts for complete-vehicle startups have fallen sharply, while financings in components — especially power semiconductors, battery materials recycling, and thermal management — have grown. Charging and battery-swap infrastructure is seeing renewed interest as utilization rates improve.
Where rounds are clustering
- Silicon-carbide power devices and related epitaxy capacity.
- Battery recycling and second-life storage, driven by policy support and improving unit economics.
- Intelligent-driving components: domain controllers, lidar components, and automotive-grade compute.
- Charging networks with proven cash flow, often financed with hybrid equity-debt structures.
What would change our view
The main risks are overcapacity in component segments and the pace of consolidation among suppliers. Pricing pressure from OEMs remains the key variable to watch in the next two quarters. We will update this map as new rounds are disclosed.
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