Leapting Technology (丽天智能), a developer of mobile robot for the photovoltaic (PV) industry, recently announced the completion of a Series A+ round of financing backed solely by Vision Plus Capital, Chinese media reported today.
Notably, the latest fundraiser came hard on the heels of three previous funding rounds, all in 2023, signaling the firm’s appeal to investors.
According to a press release, proceeds from this round will go toward product R&D, team building and global market expansion in the realm of robotics serving PV plants and facilities.
Founded in July 2022 by Wang Shitao, ex-chief technology officer of ArcTechSolar, a domestic listed manufacturer of PV tracking systems, the company chose Huzhou, a city in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, as its headquarters.
With over 15 years’ experience in the PV industry, Wang bets big on the future of solar panel markets at home and abroad, as he ventured into mobile robots staffing PV power stations.
Data released by International Energy Agency shows that global installed PV capacity exceeded 1TW for the first time in late 2022, hitting 1183GW.
The segment has maintained a robust growth rate of 24.9% on average worldwide.
Driven by burgeoning demand, mobile robots have been increasingly called for to replace human employees and enhance efficiency to clean solar panels and perform other tasks.
Leapting supplies clients with robots that not just clean up solar panels, but also autonomously install the panels or conduct unmanned safety inspection.
Besides, its robots gather and integrate data as it moves between rows of solar panels, aiding decision-making that leads to the optimal solutions for a PV power plant throughout its life cycle, the company says.
Gaining ground
As the global demand for carbon neutrality continues to rise, solar and other clean energies have been gaining ground.
In the meantime, PV power station operators are steadily looking to unmanned smart equipment to take care of the solar panels and tracking systems in lieu of human inspectors.
With immense market potential, mobile robots serving PV power suppliers are set to become a norm in the industry, Wang of Leapting predicted.
“We highly expect Leapting to kick off the intelligent transition of PV power stations through a robot matrix, and lead innovations to shape the future industry-wide,” VisionPlus Capital said about its injection into the startup.
As of the third quarter of 2023, Leapting had snagged deals worth tens of millions of yuan, with its products now widely present in South Asia and the Middle East overseas and in Xinjiang, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia at home.
