"Speedway New Energy" Completes Angel+ Round Financing Worth Tens of Millions Yuan after Solving the Problem of Voltage Decay in Lithium-rich Manganese-based Cathode Materials and Winning Recognition from Leading Manufacturers | Exclusive Report by 36Kr
Text | Zhang Bingbing
Editor | A Zhi
36Kr learned that Shenzhen Sufang New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Sufang New Energy") recently announced the completion of a tens of millions of yuan Angel + round of financing. This round of financing was solely invested by Zhuoshi Investment, and Jianwei Capital served as the long - term exclusive financial advisor. The funds from this round will be used for the R & D of lithium - rich manganese - based cathode material series products, production line construction, and other aspects.
"Sufang New Energy" was established in 2023 and is committed to researching and developing globally ultra - low voltage drop lithium - rich manganese - based cathode materials. The founder, Liu Qi, is a tenured professor at the City University of Hong Kong. He once worked at the Argonne National Laboratory in the United States and participated in the R & D of cathode materials for Huawei's consumer batteries. He has more than 10 years of experience in lithium - ion battery research.
It is reported that "Sufang New Energy" has overcome the problem of voltage decay in lithium - rich manganese - based cathode materials. Its hundred - ton - scale production line has been put into operation, and the high - voltage pure lithium - rich manganese - based cathode materials it developed have been sent for sampling to several leading battery manufacturers. In addition, "Sufang New Energy" has also simultaneously launched lithium - rich manganese - based cathode lithium - supplementing agent products, hoping to achieve a commercial breakthrough in the application of medium - and low - voltage mixed lithium - rich manganese - based materials first.
I. Solve the Problem of Voltage Decay in Lithium - Rich Manganese - Based Materials and Cross the Key Indicator for Industrialization
The current lithium - battery technology is not the ultimate solution. On the battery material side, from the dimensions of cathode materials, anode materials, electrolytes, separators, etc., multiple technological routes with differentiated characteristics are evolving simultaneously.
In the field of cathode materials, ternary nickel - cobalt - manganese (NCM) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) have long dominated the power battery and energy - storage battery markets and are currently the absolute mainstream in the consumer - grade battery industry. The lithium - rich manganese - based material is a recognized ultra - high energy - density technological route for the future.
The energy density of battery cathode materials is determined by two core elements - specific capacity and operating voltage. The product of the two determines the theoretical value of the material's energy density. The specific capacity of lithium - rich manganese - based materials can exceed 300 mAh/g under laboratory conditions and can still maintain good stability in the high - voltage range above 4.5V. The specific capacity of high - nickel ternary materials is 180 - 220 mAh/g under laboratory conditions. In terms of raw materials, due to the reduced use of precious metals such as nickel and cobalt, lithium - rich manganese - based materials can significantly reduce production costs, and the cost per watt - hour can be comparable to that of lithium iron phosphate, with obvious advantages in both energy density and cost.
However, for a long time, lithium - rich materials have had a continuous voltage decay problem during the cycling process. This key technological bottleneck has seriously restricted the commercialization of lithium - rich manganese - based materials. Voltage decay not only leads to a sharp decrease in energy density but also brings about systematic impacts such as reduced battery life, BMS failure, and decreased power, accelerating overall aging. From the user's perception level, the most core manifestations are the serious reduction of product battery life and the chaotic display of battery power.
"If lithium - rich manganese - based materials are to be truly industrialized, the problem of voltage decay must be solved." Liu Qi introduced that lithium - rich manganese - based materials are composed of two phases, the layered phase and the lithium - rich monoclinic phase. At the atomic scale, voltage decay is related to the instability of the honeycomb structure of the lithium - rich phase under high voltage. The structural instability leads to irreversible oxygen release and structural degradation, which is the most important reason for the voltage decay of lithium - rich materials.
"Sufang New Energy" used a multi - level precise doping method to stably treat the honeycomb structure of lithium - rich manganese - based materials in steps during the precursor preparation and material firing stages, successfully developing lithium - rich manganese - based cathode materials with ultra - low voltage decay. The relevant research results have been published in the internationally renowned academic journal "Nature Energy", and relevant patents have been applied for.
Sufang New Energy production line
In terms of specific technical indicators, the voltage decay of lithium - rich manganese - based materials basically occurs within the first 200 cycles. Liu Qi believes that controlling the voltage drop within a specific indicator after 200 cycles is the key threshold for measuring whether it can be used as the main material. "This determines whether lithium - rich manganese - based materials are used as a real main material or only as an additive or auxiliary material." It is reported that the high - voltage pure lithium - rich manganese - based cathode materials launched by "Sufang New Energy" have reached this technical threshold and can continuously optimize performance according to customer needs to meet the requirements of different application scenarios.
II. Continuously Invest in the R & D of Solid - State Battery Applications and Expand Commercialization in the Low - Altitude Economy Field
Although the key technical indicators have been achieved, there are still a series of challenges to overcome in order to transform the research results into large - scale production and achieve commercialization.
In the mass - production stage, Liu Qi pointed out that equipment adaptability and technical talent reserve are the two core challenges, and the repeatability of equipment processes is particularly crucial. "People are more concerned about equipment issues, that is, in the process from the specific production of materials to the final sintering, is the repeatability high? Will the equipment need to be replaced or the preparation process redesigned because there are some additional steps in the materials?" In response, Liu Qi explained that although the synthesis system of lithium - rich manganese - based materials developed by "Sufang New Energy" is more complex in process than traditional materials, the currently prepared scaling - up equipment is highly compatible with the production lines of ternary materials to a large extent, so the challenges in terms of equipment are controllable.
In terms of talent building, "Sufang New Energy" continuously recruits technical talents with practical experience in cathode material production. The core team comes from leading domestic first - tier manufacturers, and it is also actively expanding market sales talents with technical experience.
Liu Qi is full of confidence in the prospects of lithium - rich manganese - based materials in solid - state batteries. He said that ideally, if lithium - rich manganese - based batteries are combined with high - capacity anode materials and safe solid - state electrolytes, it is expected to increase the energy density of battery cells by two to three times. However, in reality, the development of solid - state batteries still faces the "barrel effect". The R & D progress of each level, such as positive and negative electrode materials, electrolytes, and separators, will affect the process of large - scale application of solid - state batteries.
Currently, the adaptability of lithium - rich manganese - based materials to the electrolyte system under high - voltage conditions is still an unsolved problem. Liu Qi admitted that "the traditional mainstream liquid electrolytes in the market cannot support the stable operation of batteries at high voltages above 4.5V, which is precisely the technical bottleneck restricting the further development of lithium - rich manganese - based materials."
Facing this challenge, the product R & D of "Sufang New Energy" has established a two - step strategy: On the one hand, it has long - term investment in the R & D of high - voltage pure lithium - rich manganese - based cathode materials. The products have been sent for sampling to leading battery manufacturers, and the products are continuously iterated to pass battery performance and soft - pack tests. On the other hand, it has launched lithium - rich manganese - based cathode lithium - supplementing agent products to enter the traditional lithium - ion battery market and accelerate commercialization. "We hope to develop a lithium - rich manganese - based material at a voltage of 4.5V, with capacity performance comparable to that of existing high - nickel or medium - nickel ternary materials. Its greatest advantage is that the price will be about 30% cheaper." Liu Qi added. "Sufang New Energy" has sent samples to customers in the low - altitude economy fields such as drones and model airplanes, and it is expected to generate sales revenue in 2026.
Currently, "Sufang New Energy" has launched a new round of financing plan to promote R & D progress and the construction of a kiloton - scale production line.
Views of the Investor:
Dr. Lan Tian of Zhuoshi Investment: Currently, the development trends of lithium - ion power batteries include two directions: increasing energy density and reducing costs. Among them, high - energy - density batteries can meet the lightweight and long - range requirements of application scenarios such as new energy vehicles, low - altitude economy, humanoid robots, and wearable electronic devices, with significant economic and strategic value. High - specific - energy cathode materials are the key to increasing battery energy density. At present, the potential of the mainstream high - nickel ternary materials has been basically exhausted. Lithium - rich manganese - based materials are the next - generation high - specific - energy cathode materials recognized by the industry, which can increase the battery energy density by more than 30%. However, since the discovery of lithium - rich manganese - based materials 30 years ago, the problem of continuous voltage decay during the cycling process has never been solved, resulting in poor cycling performance and inability to be commercialized. The multi - level precise doping technology developed by Professor Liu Qi's team at the City University of Hong Kong has successfully solved this industry problem. Currently, it has successfully achieved mass production at the hundred - ton level, truly opening the door to the commercialization of lithium - rich manganese - based cathode materials. Therefore, we are very optimistic about the development of "Sufang New Energy".
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This article is from the WeChat public account "36Kr Future Industries". The authors are Zhang Bingbing and A Zhi. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.