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Shenzhen Lai Dian Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Laidian Technology"), as a leading company in the shared power bank industry, was recently reported to have lost contact with its founder.

Recently, media reported that Lai Dian Technology founder Yuan Bingsong and partner Han Bing suddenly lost contact. The report pointed out that the two people's loss of contact may be related to the loss of state-owned assets. They were held accountable for the loss of state-owned assets. In 2014, Lai Dian Technology was founded by Yuan Bingsong in Shenzhen. After that, 51% of the shares were transferred to Han Bing after two rounds of transfers. The outside world said that Han Bing had work experience in state-owned investment departments, so the equity transfer was also believed to be related to Lai Dian Technology's plan to go public.

Yuan Bingsong is called "Brother Caller" in the circle. The picture is the official website's introduction to the company's founder.

On the evening of August 18, Yuan Bingsong, the founder of Lai Dian Technology, posted a circle of friends, saying, "God is fair, and everything that happens is the best arrangement. Follow your conscience, do things according to your heart, don't do evil, and God will bless you!" It is understood that the circle of friends was posted by Yuan Bingsong, and Yuan Bingsong himself can be contacted at present. Previously, because he cooperated with the investigation, the outside world could not contact him for a month.

On the morning of August 19, a reporter from Nandu Wancaishe called Lai Dian Technology's parent company, Pujiang Lai Dian Zhengqi Technology Co., Ltd. A person in charge said that Yuan Bingsong had resigned from the company a long time ago and currently has no relationship with Pujiang Lai Dian Zhengqi and is not aware of his relevant situation.

According to Tianyancha, Laidian Technology is currently involved in several lawsuits, and some users have previously reported that they were unable to return their power banks in time. The once "number one shared power bank" has seen its market share decline, with similar players such as Monster Power Bank, Jiedian, Soudian, and Meituan rising rapidly. The operational challenges of shared power banks behind this round of turmoil are also worth paying attention to.

Lai Dian TechnologyFailed backdoor listing

Shenzhen Lai Dian Technology, the "big brother" in the shared power bank industry, has now transformed into a state-owned enterprise.

In early 2020, Han Bing attempted to sell Laidian Technology to listed company Zhongwei Electronics, but the transaction was terminated due to the balance issue. In January 2020, Zhongwei Electronics, a GEM-listed company, announced that it planned to transfer 9.07% of its shares to Han Bing, the legal representative of Shenzhen Laidian Technology. After the transfer is completed, Han Bing will become a shareholder of Zhongwei Electronics with a shareholding of more than 5%.

The purpose of the above cooperation between the two parties is mainly that both parties hope to establish a long-term strategic cooperative relationship with Zhongwei Electronics through this equity transfer. However, the transaction was ultimately terminated in April 2020 because Han Bing failed to raise sufficient funds for the equity transfer.

After a failed backdoor listing, Shenzhen Laidian accepted the olive branch from the state-owned assets of Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province. At the end of 2020, the holder of 100% of Laidian Technology's equity was changed to Pujiang Laidian Zhengqi Technology Co., Ltd., which was established not long ago. Pujiang Laidian has two shareholders, both of which are limited partnerships. The limited partner (investor, LP) and the general partner (manager, GP) are all state-owned capital. The state-owned assets of Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province are the main investor.

"In recent years, Pujiang County has always put 'industrially strong county' at the top of the county's strategic development, and has vigorously carried out the three major tough year activities of 'business environment, project attraction, and innovative development', achieving new breakthroughs in investment promotion and project breakthroughs, especially in 2020. A total of 52 projects were attracted throughout the year, including 32 projects with investment of more than 100 million yuan." At that time, the two parties officially announced the business, and the Pujiang County Government Office, which bet on Lai Dian Technology, also announced the relevant content to the public.

With frequent lawsuits, shared power banks face operational challenges

However, Lai Dian Technology has also encountered many new problems.

Tianyancha information shows that since 2020, Lai Dian Technology has been involved in 77 lawsuits due to contract disputes such as entrustment, joint ventures, labor, and sales. The plaintiffs involved include Lai Dian Technology’s co-founders, early agents, suppliers, and employees.

As one of the earliest companies to enter the shared charging industry, Lai Dian Technology received investments from SIG, Redpoint China, and Jiuhe Venture Capital in its early stages of development. As capital pours into the shared power bank industry, how to continue to diversify revenue has become a new challenge as companies compete for scale.

In 2020, Meituan entered the shared power bank industry. In April 2021, Monster Power, invested by Hillhouse Capital and Xiaomi Technology, went public in the United States, becoming the first listed stock in the industry. At the same time, Jiedian merged with Soudian, and Xiaodian also submitted a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Laidian Technology also began to decline in scale and market share.

The backwardness in scale is, on the one hand, related to the entry of major investors into the market and the intensified competition in the industry. On the other hand, it may also be related to the management problems within Lai Dian Technology itself.

In 2021, Lai Dian Technology faced lawsuits from suppliers and agents. At that time, suppliers Molerji and Hunan Jushen Electronics Co., Ltd. successively filed lawsuits in court, demanding that Lai Dian Technology pay off the overdue payments. In addition, agents Suzhou Lai Dian and Shanghai Lai Dian sued both the parent company Pujiang Lai Dian and Lai Dian Technology. The case was caused by Lai Dian Technology's failure to return the operating income of the agents in a timely manner. The plaintiff believed that the parent company, as the controlling shareholder of Lai Dian Technology, had property confusion and subject confusion during the transfer process from the parent company to the former.

As the "heroes" of shared power banks seizing the market, agents have helped companies expand their territory rapidly. An insider of Lai Dian revealed that the reason why Lai Dian Technology's valuation in the A round was higher than that of other competitors was because Lai Dian had good agent resources across the country, and the agents had occupied the top channels for Lai Dian early on, and the agents also obtained considerable operating income through cooperation with Lai Dian. However, the originally promised operating income share was not paid out in time and distributed reasonably, which also laid a "hidden danger" for the later development of Lai Dian Technology.

Behind this round of turmoil, we can also see, to some extent, the pain point of the shared power bank business model being too monotonous. The shared power bank industry has broad market demand, high standardization, and low entry barriers. These characteristics have attracted many capital players to this industry. Relying on franchising to increase revenue and light asset-based land grabbing, franchising has become the logic for companies to quickly capitalize.

At present, there are four main business models for shared power banks on the market: user payment model, operator revenue model, advertising promotion model and data analysis model. The user payment model is the core of the shared power bank business model, and users need to pay a certain fee to use the shared power bank. The operator revenue model is another important revenue model.

"For these shared power banks, which brand consumers will choose still depends on who has more offline machines. Market share is not only a direct reflection of their location grabbing, but good operating data can also endorse subsequent capital absorption and business expansion," an industry insider told Nandu Wancaishe.

However, with the penetration of shared power banks over the years, especially in first- and second-tier cities, good locations have been occupied. If agents want to enter more high-traffic locations, they need to spend more money. The higher threshold requirements for agents and the increased uncertainty of income have also reduced the attractiveness of the agency model.

Whether it can continue to make profits and how to diversify revenue have become common difficulties that the industry needs to break through. However, according to the data analysis of the Prospective Industry Research Institute, the penetration rate of shared power banks still has room for further improvement, especially the sinking market can still be cultivated. According to the historical changes in the number of users, the number of shared power bank users in China will further increase in the future. According to the growth rate, it is estimated that in 2026, the number of shared power bank users in China will reach 610 million. The competition among giant players may also usher in another high point.

Written by: Nandu Wancaishe reporter Chen Yingshan