Recently, there has been a wave of early cash in the perovskite field, and some founders who have not been in business for a long time have begun to cash out in advance, amounting to tens of millions of yuan. Surprisingly, the cash rounds chosen by these founders are pre-a rounds, rather than B, C or IPO rounds as usual. What the hell is going on here
? First of all, let's start with perovskite batteries. Perovskite
solar cells, which use organometallic halide semiconductors as light-absorbing materials, not only have an efficiency as high as 40% of the theoretical conversion efficiency, but also have the advantages of light weight, low cost and flexibility, which can be regarded as the representative of the third generation solar cell technology. However, bringing this potential technology from the laboratory to the market is facing enormous challenges, and the barriers to industrialization and commercialization are extremely arduous. The inherent problems of perovskite batteries, such as insufficient stability and short life, have always constrained researchers to make greater progress.
At the same time, the perovskite field is capital-intensive, and in the past two years, with the increase of heat, the capital market has also focused on this field. Head funds continue to increase, followed by industrial funds, making the field highly sought after. In this regard, some investors have raised doubts about the high valuation of the Perovskite Angel Round: The Angel Round is valued at 1 billion yuan, which is very difficult to get through to the C round!
On the other hand, potential start-ups in the field of perovskite are often founded by university professors, who hold the core of cutting-edge technology. However, business, strategic and organizational capabilities are relatively weak, which may encounter more challenges in the process of entrepreneurship. Therefore, as far as they are concerned, the harvest is a wise choice for many people.
Taken together, these founders may feel the pressure to move forward and uncertain risks, so they choose to cash out early to retain funds and meet unknown challenges.
Market performance is a long story, perovskite is out
of reach in the primary and secondary markets, the performance of the perovskite sector is not as expected.
Last month, Guangyin Technology, an emerging energy technology developer, completed an angel round financing of 50 million RMB, the largest angel round financing in the perovskite field, with investors including Zhuan Zhuan Group and Meihua Venture Capital. The main business of Guangyin Technology is the R & D and manufacturing of perovskite photovoltaic . According to public information, Guangyin Technology was founded in 2022, focusing on breakthroughs and innovations in perovskite photovoltaic technology, hoping to promote social progress. Wen Yanjie, the founder of Guangyin Technology, is particularly attractive. He is the former president of Zhuan Zhuan Group. He started his business on the Internet and set foot in the fields of education, training and second-hand platforms. He has never set foot in the field of perovskite! Therefore, some analysts believe that this is a capital accumulation, with the concept of perovskite, hoping to get a share in the market. The secondary market performance in the
perovskite sector is also worrying. The players on this track can be described as eight immortals crossing the sea, each showing his magic. In 2021, Huaneng Group achieved 3500 cm2 module area, but the efficiency was only 15.5%. In 2022, the efficiency of Aurora power is 18.2%, but the module area is only 300 cm2, which is about the size of two or three palms. In fact, most of the listed companies that have been fired in the secondary market are still in the stage of technology research and development, with few mass production offline. Related stocks from the beginning of the "surge" also began to "fall endlessly.".
As a result, in the perovskite domain, the heat comes and dissipates much faster than we expected.
According to the evaluation of senior investors, the above phenomenon may become a common phenomenon in new energy, key and core technology and other hot areas in the future. In the current domestic investment environment, the phenomenon of involution is becoming more and more serious, which leads investors to think that only investing in cutting-edge technology is the right choice. However, the huge potential rewards of cutting-edge technology also come with higher risks. In
this context, the operation of investors' funds has also changed. The investor's appeal for "sharp increase and sharp retreat" echoes the early cash phenomenon of the founder. Founders chose to cash out early and preserve their money to better meet unknown challenges. As this trend continues to intensify, the situation of cash in advance may become more and more serious, affecting the stable development of the investment industry.
The early cash wave is a microcosm of the phenomenon of involution in the investment industry, which is inevitable in the field of science and technology. For investors, rational and prudent decision-making is the long-term solution. Investors and founders can only succeed in the longer term in this highly competitive market if they are cautious about risk. As for cutting-edge technologies, such as perovskite mentioned in this article, you should take a rational view of their development. In the current situation, how long can story of perovskite be told? It's all up to the development of technology.
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