(Yicai Global) Dec. 25 -- SoftBank Ventures Asia, a unit under Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, has led a CNY500 million (USD71.4 million) fundraising round in Chinese powerbank sharing provider Energy Monster.

The Shanghai-based firm will use the proceeds from the C round to expand its existing business and explore new revenue channels, it said in a statement yesterday.

Founded in 2017, Energy Monster has a 25 percent share of the domestic charger sharing market behind Jiedian with 28.6 percent and Xiaodian with 27 percent, according to figures from TrustData. Energy Monster had over 200 million users in over 1,300 Chinese cities as of the end of November.

iiMedia Research predicts there will be 408 million shared powerbank users next year, though firms have been edging up their prices since this summer, with an hour of charging now costing around CNY8 (USD1.1) an hour.

Energy Monster already counts the likes of Hillhouse Capital, Goldman Sachs and Xiaomi Technologies among its investors, and has raised money from SoftBank before. Other backers include Shunwei Capital, BlueRun Ventures and BOC International.

Editor: James Boynton