Sikaige Lists on U.S. Stock Market as Unity Ventures' Systematic New Energy Bets Pay Off
Staying focused on new opportunities brought by electrification and intelligence.
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On June 30 Beijing time, Unity Ventures' angel-round portfolio company Scage (司凯奇) listed on the Nasdaq in the United States.
Founded in 2019, Scage focuses on the development and commercialization of new-energy heavy-duty trucks and clean fuel solutions. It has completed the design, production, and testing of multiple new-energy truck models, covering logistics, mining, port transportation, and other application scenarios.
Unity Ventures invested in Scage's angel round at the end of 2020 and has continued to double down. Prior to the IPO, Unity was Scage's largest shareholder by ownership percentage. Beyond Scage, Unity Ventures has been making systematic bets in the new-energy sector since 2020, backing companies including Lika Technology, Star Ring Fusion Energy, Suyu Technology, Jinggui Intelligence, Daotong New Energy, and GreenVoltis.
This year, we will continue to pay attention to new opportunities brought by electrification, such as electric motorcycles, electric boats, electric tools, electric machinery, and eVTOL. We believe all traditional gasoline-powered and plug-in consumer-facing household tools present a new wave of electrification opportunities.
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Source: 21st Century Business Herald
Reporter: Shen Junhan
On June 30 Beijing time, Unity Ventures angel-round portfolio company Scage went public on the Nasdaq in the United States through a SPAC merger.
Founded in 2019, Scage focuses on the development and commercialization of new-energy heavy-duty trucks and clean fuel solutions. It has completed the design, production, and testing of multiple new-energy truck models, covering logistics, mining, port transportation, and other application scenarios.
"We have always been watching the directions of intelligence and electrification. The electrification of commercial vehicles is an inevitable trend with significant market potential. So when there were very few new-energy commercial vehicle projects at the time, we noticed Scage and made the investment," said Xiao Wang, founder of Unity Ventures.
Unity Ventures invested in Scage at the end of 2020 and made a follow-on investment in 2021. Prior to the IPO, Unity Ventures held approximately 10% of Scage's shares, making it the largest shareholder, and is expected to generate substantial returns.
Beyond Scage, Unity Ventures has been making systematic bets in the new-energy sector since 2020, also investing in Lika Technology, Star Ring Fusion Energy, Suyu Technology, Jinggui Intelligence, Daotong New Energy, GreenVoltis, and other projects.
The reasons for Unity Ventures' heavy focus on new energy are twofold. On one hand, under the "dual carbon" goals and the trend of decarbonizing the energy structure, new energy will gradually become the mainstay of the energy mix. On the other hand, various technologies have successively reached breakthrough points.
Going forward, there will be enormous transformation opportunities around every link of the energy chain, with terminal energy sectors that have significant decarbonization needs concentrated mainly in transportation, construction, and industry.
"So, Unity Ventures focuses on the critical nodes of energy system reconstruction and the key links that change energy system efficiency. We have made full-chain portfolio investments around the new-energy industry chain, from fusion energy at the bottom layer that generates power, to virtual power plants and electronic control platforms, and on up to the upper layers of wire-controlled chassis and complete vehicles," Wang said.
Six Years of Entrepreneurship, Targeting Structural Growth Opportunities in New-Energy Heavy-Duty Trucks
Scage founder Chao Gao has 20 years of experience in the new-energy vehicle industry. In 2019, Gao founded Scage in Nanjing, focusing on building premium new-energy heavy-duty commercial vehicles.
Currently, Scage's products include the plug-in hybrid dump truck "Dragon King II" (mainly used for mining and other heavy-duty loading and unloading), the plug-in hybrid semi-trailer tractor "Galaxy II" (mainly used for long-haul road transport and logistics services), and autonomous tractors that can be widely applied in intelligent transportation scenarios.
Additionally, Scage is actively developing three new new-energy vehicle models. Its product line includes an all-electric port tractor, a long-range pure-electric tractor, and a wide-body high-power hybrid mining truck, to meet the diverse commercial transportation needs of global customers.
After several years of R&D and market expansion, Scage began delivering products in the past two years. Benefiting from global dual-carbon goals, China's New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035), and tax incentives in Europe and the United States, these policies will drive the development of new-energy commercial vehicles over the long term. With clear policy tailwinds and a high market ceiling, the new-energy heavy-duty truck sector is seeing long-term structural growth opportunities.
Scage builds competitive moats through self-developed electronic control and steering systems, an intelligent distributed hybrid power (IDHP) system, and solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC) hydrogen production technology. Its flexible product matrix can satisfy multiple application scenarios, and the company is entering the scaling phase from 1 to 100. In the future, the company aims to gradually become a system-level solutions provider for new-energy heavy-duty trucks by building hydrogen refueling stations, establishing financing and leasing platforms, and implementing a global strategic layout.
Beyond Early Investment in Scage, Unity's Systematic New-Energy Sector Layout
As an early investor in Scage, Wang recalled that he first met Gao during the pandemic, and the team had an initial virtual conversation with him. Gao was an automotive industry executive with successful entrepreneurial experience, and the team's technical capabilities were strong, so Unity Ventures invested in Scage's angel round at the early stage of new-energy commercial vehicle development.
"Scage experienced various impacts from the pandemic in its early days. Our impression of Gao was that he had strong resilience and could respond to challenges brought by the external environment," Wang said.
After the investment, Unity Ventures helped Scage connect with investment institutions and industry resources, discussed overall business development directions, and recommended talent. At important milestones and critical moments in the company's development, Unity Ventures consistently chose to stand with the founder.
Wang noted that "understanding the founder" is extremely important. Entrepreneurship is very lonely, and along the way you encounter many difficulties, sometimes feeling like you can't get through them. At these moments, investors need to understand the founder — understand the difficulties he faces and the major decisions he makes. Investors can offer strategic advice, but more critically, they need to provide emotional value and continuous encouragement.
Beyond Scage, Unity Ventures has made systematic investment deployments in the new-energy sector in recent years. "We are good at viewing technological transformation from a 'computing' perspective, identifying early opportunities at the intersection of 'computing + energy.' We see new energy as an energy system being reconstructed, encompassing energy generation, storage, dispatch, and other links," Wang said.
For example, in recent years, breakthroughs in AI and high-temperature superconducting materials have greatly accelerated the development of fusion energy, which has become an important direction for future energy. In 2022, Unity Ventures participated in the angel round of Star Ring Fusion Energy, a company dedicated to the commercial application of fusion energy and related technology R&D. Under the influence of foreign energy structure adjustments, energy going global also presents structural opportunities. In 2024, Unity Ventures participated in the angel round of European virtual power plant company Green Voltis.
Regarding criteria for screening and evaluating projects, Wang said that new-energy entrepreneurs need to have know-how about the industry chain and manufacturing processes, and understand the engineering and commercialization complexity of new energy. The team tends to invest in new-energy entrepreneurs with "underlying technology + engineering capability + industry synergy," as well as teams with cross-disciplinary backgrounds who not only have strong technical abilities but can also integrate across disciplines. At the same time, Unity Ventures is continuously iterating its own understanding of the new-energy sector.
"This year, we will continue to pay attention to new opportunities brought by electrification, such as electric motorcycles, electric boats, electric tools, electric machinery, and eVTOL. We believe all traditional gasoline-powered and plug-in consumer-facing household tools present a new wave of electrification opportunities," Wang said.
