"Xingkeyuan" Completes Tens of Millions of Yuan in Angel+ Round Financing after Achieving Hundred-kilogram-scale Mass Production of Silicon-carbon Anode Materials for Solid-state Batteries | Exclusive Report by 36Kr
Text | Zhang Bingbing
Editor | A Zhi
36Kr learned that Hangzhou Xingkeyuan New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xingkeyuan") recently announced the completion of tens of millions of yuan in Angel + round financing. The investor in this round of financing is Yuanhe Origin. Previously, it had received angel - round investment from Sequoia China Seed Fund, Xianfeng Changqing, Linge Venture Capital, Tsinghua Alumni Fund, Yundao Capital, and industrial investors, and Yundao Capital served as its long - term exclusive financial advisor. This round of financing will be mainly used for the development of a new generation of products and, on the basis of technological iteration, to break through large - scale mass production.
Founded in January 2022, "Xingkeyuan" focuses on the production and R & D of silicon - carbon anodes for lithium batteries and is also reserving next - generation nano - silicon technology for solid - state batteries. The team members mainly come from universities such as Tsinghua University, Peking University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and have many years of practical experience in the fields of nanomaterials, anode materials, solid - state batteries, and equipment manufacturing.
"Xingkeyuan" independently designs and develops a new generation of CVD nano - silicon manufacturing equipment, silicon - carbon material synthesis equipment, etc. It has developed a number of process technologies such as nano - silicon products with high dispersibility and easy surface modification and high - specific - capacity anode materials, and has sent samples in bulk to leading manufacturers.
Seize the core nano - silicon raw materials and self - develop silicon - carbon anode material technology
Under the explosive growth trend of new energy, lithium batteries face performance bottlenecks such as energy density and charging efficiency. In the field of battery material innovation, finding anode materials with higher specific capacity has become one of the current research focuses. The theoretical specific capacity of silicon - based anode materials far exceeds that of traditional graphite materials, and at the same time, it can significantly improve the charging and discharging efficiency of lithium batteries, making it an ideal new - type anode material.
However, when silicon is fully lithiated, its volume will expand by 100% - 300%. The huge volume change will cause the material to crack or be damaged, thus affecting the lifespan and performance of the battery, which has become the biggest problem in the practical application of silicon - based materials.
The silicon - carbon composite material technology is currently the recognized route to solve this problem. However, in actual production, there is no fixed pattern for its process and mass - production equipment, which has become a breakthrough point for innovative enterprises in competition. Leading international companies such as Group 14 mainly use gas - phase silicon - carbon technology, and its core product, SCC55™, has won orders from many new - energy vehicle and consumer electronics companies.
Unit gram capacity, initial efficiency, cycle life, and rate performance are important dimensions for evaluating the performance of anode materials. Li Xuegeng, the founder of "Xingkeyuan", believes that the gas - phase silicon - carbon technology essentially involves the secondary granulation of high - specific - capacity nano - silicon particles, taking into account high initial efficiency and ultra - long cycle performance. The underlying logic is the performance balance brought by ultra - fine nano - silicon. Therefore, the core of "Xingkeyuan"'s differentiated technology path lies in nano - silicon technology.
"Our nano - silicon technology has 20 years of accumulation and can ensure the production of nano - silicon at the level of several nanometers, which is the team's strongest point." According to Li Xuegeng, the founder of Xingkeyuan, the nano - silicon previously developed was mainly used for quantum - dot light - emitting materials in fields such as LEDs and medical display agents. In the field of lithium - battery applications, "Xingkeyuan" can prepare ultra - fine nano - silicon particles of < 10nm and achieve particle - size adjustment between a few nanometers and dozens of nanometers.
Nano - silicon products
Compared with other processes, "Xingkeyuan"'s nano - silicon has a small particle size, a controllable particle - size distribution, and no hard agglomeration between particles. It is more easily dispersed and can achieve good dispersion in solution, with both quantum effects and resistance to fragmentation, achieving high specific capacity and long - cycle stability. On this basis, in - situ carbon coating and in - situ doping can reduce the processing difficulty and resistivity of nano - silicon, leaving room for the subsequent development of silicon - carbon anode processes.
"After the ultra - fine and highly dispersible performance is achieved, there are more possibilities for coating, such as carbon coating, ceramic materials, and polymer materials." Li Xuegeng further explained that the team is also increasing investment in the development of pure nano - silicon and composite silicon materials to reduce costs and enable the products to ultimately have the competitive advantages of low cost, high compaction, high rate, and fast charging.
Stably mass - produce silicon - carbon anode materials and target next - generation solid - state battery applications
In the field of new materials, there has never been a shortage of technological breakthroughs in the laboratory. Silicon - carbon anode materials have extremely high requirements for product consistency and stability. To achieve large - scale mass production and commercial application, it requires strong control of production equipment and engineering capabilities.
"Xingkeyuan" chose to self - develop production equipment and aimed at large - scale industrialization from the beginning. Li Xuegeng said: "All our technological equipment is designed for ton - level production. We never do production at the level of dozens or hundreds of grams. Because if the engineering problems are not solved, there will be problems with the product later. So we have strong engineering capabilities and a solid foundation, which is different from other companies in the market."
It is reported that the CVD production equipment self - made by "Xingkeyuan" can achieve continuous production. After the equipment is ignited, as long as the silicon precursor and carbon source are continuously fed, carbon - coated nano - silicon materials can be continuously produced. As long as the process parameters are set exactly the same, the materials can be produced continuously, without the problems of poor batch consistency and stability. In addition, the silicon - carbon composite materials developed by "Xingkeyuan" have better compressive performance than gas - phase silicon - carbon. On the basis of ensuring the existing initial efficiency, they can also realize composite functional materials, making the product's electrical conductivity and fast - charging performance more prominent.
Currently, "Xingkeyuan" is focusing on promoting the verification link in the pilot - scale stage and has achieved stable mass production and delivery of ultra - fine nano - silicon and nano - silicon powder materials at the level of hundreds of kilograms, realizing large - scale in - situ coating processes and the preparation technology of various in - situ doped composite materials. At the same time, in response to the differentiated needs of different customers, "Xingkeyuan" has developed universal base materials suitable for both water - based and oil - based systems, and the results have been delivered to many customers, including leading enterprises in the industry, for quality testing.
According to a relevant research report from CITIC Securities, with the expansion of application scenarios and the increase in the blending ratio, silicon - carbon anode materials are expected to gradually enter the stage of accelerated industrial introduction and increasing demand. It is estimated that the global demand for silicon - carbon anode materials is expected to reach 60,000 - 70,000 tons in 2026.
"The combination of solid - state batteries with high - end demand scenarios such as low - altitude economic drones, electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, and robots has extremely high requirements for battery performance, which in turn has paved the way for a large market and opportunities for us." Li Xuegeng analyzed that after the launch of the next - generation solid - state batteries, ultra - high - specific - capacity power batteries will have higher requirements for fast charging, which is a prerequisite for occupying a larger market.
Based on this, "Xingkeyuan" will adopt the idea of prioritizing R & D, invest a large amount of resources in the R & D of a new generation of products according to customer needs, and jointly launch universal products that can serve multiple solid - state battery manufacturers with leading enterprises, continuously optimize product processes based on usage requirements to obtain customers with stable products. At the same time, in terms of industrial layout, it will look for areas to set up kiloton - level production lines to further release production capacity.
Investors' views:
Le Jinxin, Partner of Yuanhe Origin: China's lithium - battery technology continues to lead the international wave and develops in a safer, more efficient, and greener direction. Yuanhe Origin highly focuses on breakthroughs in advanced materials and processes in this field and delivers core value to the industrial chain. The Xingkeyuan team has a completely independent and innovative technical route and industrialization experience in the R & D and preparation of nano - silicon and composite silicon - carbon materials. Its products are expected to provide stable performance in all - solid - state batteries, enabling downstream customers and even China's lithium - battery industry to maintain a leading position globally. We also look forward to deeply participating in the global layout of China's new - energy industry based on our investment in Xingkeyuan and related projects.
Cao Jishan, Founding Partner of Yundao Capital: Yundao Capital highly recognizes the strategic foresight and technological breakthrough capabilities of the Xingkeyuan team in the field of new materials. It has built a full - chain technical barrier from the preparation of nano - silicon raw materials to the mass production of silicon - carbon composite materials. The technical indicators of its < 10nm ultra - fine silicon particles have reached the international leading level, providing an innovative solution to break through the industrialization bottleneck of silicon - based anodes. The development strategy of universal base materials also shows strong commercial extensibility and will be fully applied in large scenarios such as smart cars, embodied intelligence, and drones in the future. We will continue to leverage our advantages in industrial resource integration to help Xingkeyuan seize the first - mover advantage in the new - energy material revolution and grow into a globally competitive benchmark enterprise.
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This article is from the WeChat public account "36Kr Future Industries". Author: Zhang Bingbing, A Zhi. Republished by 36Kr with permission.