Gogoro Inc., a Taiwan-based battery-swapping ecosystems firm, said Tuesday it has partnered with Japanese integrated trading firm Sumitomo Corporation and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co., Ltd. (SMFL) to accelerate its global business expansion.
Gogoro said in a statement that it has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a new partnership with Sumitomo and SMFL.
The partnership also provides Sumitomo and SMFL new unique opportunities to expand their mobility business and second life battery use cases using Gogoro Smart Batteries and battery swapping.
“Gogoro’s innovative business ecosystem is designed to create broader business partnerships and business models that were not previously possible,
“Today, Sumitomo and SMFL are looking to accelerate Gogoro’s global business expansion while utilizing Gogoro Smart Batteries and battery swapping to drive expansion of their own mobility business and second life battery revenue,” said Horace Luke, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Gogoro.
According to him, Gogoro, Sumitomo and SMFL share a vision for accelerating the expansion of sustainable energy and transportation in the world’s most densely populated cities.
It is noted that Gogoro utilizes big data from its innovative smart batteries and battery swapping platform to transform energy and make it more sustainable and accessible.
It tracks dozens of parameters like battery condition, population distribution, and environmental conditions in real-time.
Sumitomo is involved in a wide range of areas in the automotive industry in Japan and overseas, from vehicle engineering and manufacturing to sales, after-sales service, and energy management.
In the mobility services field, Sumitomo is involved in auto leasing, auto financing, EV-related business, individual subscription business, and parking lot business.
The MOU signals Sumitomo and SMFL’s interest to support Gogoro’s global business expansion, by leveraging their global networks and knowledge gained from existing businesses.
SMFL’s mid-term management plan strategy includes the realization of a circular economy, and it intends to promote the battery circular economy through the creation of a battery reuse and recycling business using Gogoro’s smart batteries and plans to seek new unique business opportunities using Gogoro’s smart batteries as a new asset class for mobile second-life sustainable energy usage.
“Gogoro’s potential partnership with Sumitomo and SMFL, a global leader in financing and leasing, would establish a new asset class using Gogoro smart batteries to create new business opportunities for Sumitomo and SMFL to utilize Gogoro’s batteries for expanding their mobility business as well as generating second life battery revenue,
“Amongst the many new business opportunities, this partnership would enable a new asset-light expansion model for Gogoro that doesn’t require a large upfront capital investment while increasing the financial efficiency of our new markets,” said Bruce Aiken, Chief Financial Officer of Gogoro.
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