"Hongpeng Aviation" Completes Multi-Million Yuan Series A+ Financing to Focus on Research and Development of Low-Cost Airworthiness Aircraft Engines | 36Kr Exclusive

Author | Lin Qingqing

Editor | Yuan Silai

36Kr has learned that the aerospace power R & D and manufacturing enterprise "Hongpeng Aviation" has recently completed the Series A+ financing. This is a new round of financing progress following the completion of the Series A financing at the end of 2023. This round of financing is led by Zhuhai Dahengqin Group, with the important shareholder Yinzhu Capital continuously increasing its investment and Beyond Moore Fund following the investment.

"Hongpeng Aviation" was established in 2020, mainly engaged in the design, R & D, production, and maintenance support of aero engines, and has formed a multi-level product system including turboprop, piston, and hybrid extended-range power systems.

Currently, the practice of domestic general aviation and low-altitude economy has penetrated into various fields, covering multiple scenarios such as agricultural plant protection, power inspection, logistics distribution, tourism, environmental monitoring, and emergency rescue, covering the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries.

The aero engine is the core component of an aircraft and the power source of the aircraft, directly determining the performance, efficiency, and reliability of the aircraft. However, due to the weak foundation of the domestic civil and general aviation power system, the civil aviation engine lags far behind the world's advanced level.

"Hongpeng Aviation" founder Xu Keda told 36Kr, "In the general and civil aviation fields, small and medium-sized aero engines are a niche market with a 'small incision and large depth'. For a long time, the market has mainly relied on foreign products, lacking strong competitive products and brands. This market gap urgently needs to be filled."

Based on this, the "Hongpeng Aviation" team focuses on the two core product capabilities of "airworthiness" and "low cost", mainly targeting the logistics scenario, while also taking into account the needs of some other civil scenarios, such as rescue, emergency, tourism, etc., to develop airworthiness and low-cost engines, providing power unit solutions that can meet the actual power needs for general aviation and low-altitude aircraft.

Currently, the products of "Hongpeng Aviation" include the D series heavy oil piston engine, the G series gasoline piston engine, the TP series turboprop engine, and the E series hybrid extended-range power system. Among them, one of the core products, the Hongpeng D160 heavy oil piston engine, is currently the only piston aero engine in Asia that has passed the EASA airworthiness certification. This engine is a 160kw four-stroke piston engine with a common rail fuel system, controlled by dual FADEC, and equipped with a reduction drive device. The cumulative flight time can exceed 20,000 hours.

Design drawing of Hongpeng D160 heavy oil piston engine

On October 21, 2024, the Zhuhai production base of Hongpeng Aviation piston engine was officially completed and put into operation in the 5.0 Industrial New Space of Doumen Dahengqin. This is the first CKD factory of domestic private engine enterprises to fully introduce the assembly line layout of the European Aviation Safety Agency Airworthiness Standards (EASA standards), and it completely covers the three major sections from R & D and trial production, production and assembly to the global MRO service system. Xu Keda told 36Kr that the first-phase production line of the factory has been fully put into operation, and the annual output of a single engine will reach 500 units per year. With the completion of the second-phase project, the annual output will be even higher.

Zhuhai production base of Hongpeng Aviation piston engine

The Zhuhai production base is also the first mass production factory of aero engines of "Hongpeng Aviation". Chen Chen, the company's director and chief financial officer, told 36Kr that this base will continuously enhance the "hematopoietic" ability of "Hongpeng Aviation" and lay a solid foundation for the company's long-term development.

The booming of the low-altitude economy has also sparked a debate on the "power type". Close to the Zhuhai Airshow, "Hongpeng Aviation" revealed that it will debut the E300 hybrid extended-range power system independently developed by the team during the airshow. This project has three practical patents and "is an innovative product for the power demand of aviation development in the next 20 years", and it is also the first type of engine independently developed and successfully developed by a private enterprise in China.

Xu Keda believes: "Now the stage of 'exchanging the market for technology' has passed. For the low-altitude economy to achieve further large-scale development, the two indicators of 'airworthiness' and 'low cost' are crucial. Therefore, Hongpeng Aviation introduces overseas technology, improves the domestic high-end supply chain, and develops cost-effective and airworthiness-compliant aero engine products."

In terms of the team, the core founding team of "Hongpeng Aviation" has many years of management and R & D background in dual-use aviation devices, mostly from the dual-use technology field, and has certain accumulations in engine technology and market thinking. According to the founder, the team has cooperated with the two leading aero engine design institutions in Europe. Through intellectual property purchase and equity acquisition, the highest design level of the aero engine and the EASA airworthiness standard are guaranteed.

It is reported that "Hongpeng Aviation" will also complete a new round of financing in the near future.

Investor's perspective:

Crespo Chen, the founding partner of Yinzhu Capital, said: Yinzhu Capital focuses on early-stage investments in the aviation, aerospace, and marine fields, and has always been optimistic about the market prospects of general aircraft and power units in the aviation field: Currently, there is a huge gap between China and the US market size in the aviation cargo and passenger fields, with a huge natural and rapid improvement space. At the same time, an important reason for the market gap is the lack of aircraft and engines with solid product strength. Through the path of "introduction and digestion - forward R & D - localization", Hongpeng Aviation has achieved relatively controllable time and relatively low cost in product R & D and mass production, and developed excellent product strength based on the world-class design level. This path has not only been proven feasible in its turboprop R & D, but also shows the company's horizontal expansion ability in other categories, with huge potential and value.