AI Catalysis and Microreaction Technology Enable Mass Production of High-performance Biobased Materials. "Xiangsheng Technology" Completes Two Rounds of Angel+ Round Financing Worth Tens of Millions of Yuan | Exclusive Report by 36Kr
Text | Zhang Bingbing
Editor | A Zhi
36Kr learned that "Xiangsheng Technology" recently announced the successful completion of two consecutive rounds of angel + round financing worth tens of millions of yuan. It was jointly led by industrial CVC Meili Jingjie Capital, Yida Capital, and Nachuan Capital, with follow - on investments from institutions such as Inno Angel Fund, Suzhou Science and Technology Innovation Investment, Suzhou Angel Mother Fund, and Sugao New Science and Technology Innovation Angel Fund. The funds will be used for the construction of the AI - catalyzed technology platform, product R & D, production line expansion, and the construction of a smart factory.
Founded in January 2024, "Xiangsheng Technology" is an industrialization enterprise relying on scientific research platforms such as the Shenzhen Research Institute of Tsinghua University and the National Key Laboratory of Nanjing Tech University. It focuses on the micro - flow intelligent manufacturing of bio - based and high - performance materials. The team members of "Xiangsheng Technology" come from domestic and overseas universities such as Brown University, the University of Cambridge, and Nanjing University of Science and Technology. The founder, Yu Chao, returned to China in 2020 as a specially - appointed professor in Jiangsu and devoted himself to the engineering research and implementation of AI nano - catalysis and multiphase flow micro - reactors.
Based on its self - developed multiphase flow micro - reactor platform, "Xiangsheng Technology" has achieved mass production of bio - based furan materials FDCA and PEF products by researching and developing biological enzymes and nano - catalysts. It also provides micro - flow process development and mass production (CRDMO) services for many industrial customers. Currently, its products and technical services have been implemented in fields such as functional polyester films and fibers, nano - coatings, and organic optoelectronics, and it has reached product cooperation intentions with the supply chains of many Fortune 500 companies.
I. AI Nano - Catalysis + Multiphase Micro - Flow Matrix Reaction: Achieving Efficient Preparation and Cost Reduction of Bio - Based FDCA
When it comes to plastic materials, the public is more familiar with PET polyester, while "Xiangsheng Technology" focuses on PEF polyester. The core difference between the two lies in the raw materials "T" and "F". The "T" in PET represents PTA (terephthalic acid), which is a petroleum - based material; the "F" in PEF refers to FDCA (2,5 - furandicarboxylic acid), which is a bio - based material.
The bio - based material FDCA can be extracted from biomass raw materials such as corn, straw, and sawdust and can be degraded under industrial composting conditions. This means a simpler recycling and degradation threshold and a lower carbon footprint. At the same time, it also shows unique advantages in terms of barrier properties, mechanical strength, and temperature resistance.
"After polymerization with FDCA as a monomer, the oxygen barrier property and carbon dioxide barrier property are 4 - 10 times that of existing materials, and the tensile performance is also better than that of existing petrochemical materials." Yu Chao, the founder of "Xiangsheng Technology", gave an example. If FDCA polymer materials are used to make aseptic milk packaging, the shelf - life of milk can be extended by more than twice. It can also be used to hold carbonated liquids such as beer, ensuring no gas leakage and no deterioration during transportation and storage.
In addition, the potential of FDCA lies in its characteristic as a "platform compound". The US Department of Energy once identified FDCA as one of the 12 most promising bio - based platform compounds. This means that based on FDCA, a variety of high - performance bio - based materials such as polyamides, epoxy resins, and plasticizers can be derived, forming a large family of bio - based products.
Product series of "Xiangsheng Technology"
Although its potential is highly regarded, the application of FDCA still faces challenges such as cost, processing, scale - up, and market acceptance. Yu Chao recalled that in the initial stage of entrepreneurship, the team spent more than a year researching the market. The most core question was: How can the market accept FDCA materials? "High cost" and "How to process" were the most common answers.
"We then thought in reverse. Would you use it if the cost was reduced? The answer was that even if the cost was reduced, the suitable application scenarios still needed to be considered." Yu Chao and the team found through sorting that high - barrier packaging is a more suitable scenario. "High - barrier packaging itself has requirements for green processes. The most obvious functional requirements for the inner coating material are its barrier property, adhesiveness, and easy recyclability of a single material. The barrier performance of existing materials often fails to meet the requirements, and multiple composite materials need to be added to make it thicker. However, FDCA materials have good barrier properties, can be made thinner, are easy to process, and can achieve functional substitution."
Reversing the cause - and - effect relationship, "Xiangsheng Technology" initially targeted the high - barrier packaging scenario and reduced production costs through its self - developed multiphase micro - flow matrix reaction platform.
The multiphase micro - flow matrix reaction platform of "Xiangsheng Technology" is a highly integrated system designed for complex chemical reactions, consisting of two core modules:
The first is the AI nano - catalyst module. Through micro - fluidic high - throughput experiments + simulation, it mines the correlation law between "active site structure - reaction energy barrier". Combining with the specific parameters of the reaction system, it constructs a "catalyst structure - performance" prediction model, builds an AI catalytic material design platform and an experimental database. By precisely controlling the reaction conditions at the micron or even nanometer scale, it improves the activity and selectivity of the catalyst, reducing costs and material waste.
Catalyst products of "Xiangsheng Technology"
The second is the fluid simulation calculation and structure design module. Through fluid simulation, it evaluates and optimizes the structure of different reaction types from the perspectives of heat transfer and mass transfer, improving the mixing efficiency and reducing pressure loss. Finally, it realizes the one - step preparation of FDCA, improving the yield, productivity, and process stability, and reducing production and three - waste treatment costs.
Currently, "Xiangsheng Technology" has launched a hundred - ton - scale production line and will upgrade to a thousand - ton - scale flexible micro - flow manufacturing production line next year.
II. Modular Design + Data - Driven: Providing One - Stop Technical Solutions for High - Performance Materials
Different from the innovation of production processes driven by the demand for material performance, the R & D of FDCA by "Xiangsheng Technology" is a process of "the chicken comes first, then the egg".
"We first built the multiphase flow micro - reactor. At that time, we needed a new material to demonstrate the advantages of the platform. So we conducted a lot of screening at that time. The target was a new material that conforms to the national strategy and is recognized by the whole society as having future potential. Finally, we chose FDCA." Yu Chao introduced that traditional batch reactors are limited in adaptability due to factors such as uncontrollable scale - up effects, limited flexibility and product range, and troublesome production switching. The multiphase micro - flow matrix reaction platform can be flexibly combined like building blocks and has a wider scope in the screening of reaction systems. The most core breakthrough point is "replicable and scalable".
Yu Chao further explained that in business practice, digital transformation, rapid response, agile organization, transparent strategies, and disruptive innovation are gradually reshaping the competitive landscape of the fine chemical and CDMO industries. The micro - reactor technology and the underlying flow chemistry theory behind it provide the underlying support for this transformation. "Xiangsheng Technology" combines data - driven decision - making in business operations with the parameter chain response in flow chemistry and proposes the Domino Flow Chemistry Promotion Model (DFCM). Through the chain mechanism of "trigger - transfer - amplification", it connects state judgment, interaction, matrix optimization, and process control into a self - driven reaction optimization system, thereby realizing seamless scale - up from gram - scale experiments to thousand - ton - scale production.
Fluid simulation calculation model of "Xiangsheng Technology"
This model reflects the innovation at the process level and also represents a replicable and scalable intelligent reaction solution, providing an efficient and reliable path from R & D to large - scale manufacturing. "Although it is simple and feasible to use glass containers for reactions at the laboratory stage, complex factors such as flow pattern changes and bubble dynamics during the scale - up process often lead to out - of - control risks. Therefore, in the initial design, the physical and chemical behaviors in multiphase flow reactions, such as bubble generation, size distribution, and their effects, need to be considered in the system, so as to avoid failures and improve the success rate during the later scale - up." Yu Chao summarized.
Ultimately, the three core points that the multiphase micro - flow matrix reaction platform of "Xiangsheng Technology" always focuses on are: the leap in efficiency, the reconstruction of costs, and the controllability of risks.
Based on its platform - based capabilities, "Xiangsheng Technology" implements a business model of the "1 + N" product strategy. "1" focuses on bio - based new materials as a medium - and long - term innovative business. It mainly focuses on four fields: functional polyester films, nano - coatings, high - barrier packaging, and high - end functional fibers, and implements an "going - global" strategy, mainly targeting overseas end - brand customers for cooperation. It has completed the stability test of the mass - production lines of some customers; "N" is based on the AI nano - catalysis and multiphase flow micro - reaction technology platform. In the fields of high - performance materials such as electronic chemicals and organic optoelectronic materials, it provides a one - stop CRDMO technical solution covering the design concept of catalyst and reactor process packages, targeting high - profit product businesses for import substitution.
In 2025, the on - hand and intended orders of "Xiangsheng Technology" reached the level of tens of millions of yuan. The revenue contributions of the two strategic product lines each accounted for about 50%. It is expected to achieve a 40% - 50% profit growth in the next 3 - 4 years.
Next, "Xiangsheng Technology" hopes to continue to expand a thousand - ton - scale flexible intelligent micro - factory for new materials as a production line demonstration and accelerate the mass production of multiple high - performance materials.
36Kr Future Industries
"36Kr Future Industries" continuously focuses on urban development, industrial transformation, and the implementation of innovation and entrepreneurship projects. To seek coverage, you can contact wangfengzhi@36kr.com by email or scan the code to contact the author.
In addition, 36Kr officially launched the "36Kr Enterprise Investment Guide Newsletter" this year. Relying on its in - depth accumulation in the economic circle industrial clusters, regional key promotion plans, and investment promotion fields, 36Kr provides in - depth, timely, and exclusive comprehensive information services, offering efficient and accurate industrial project newsletters for government departments; helping project parties match industrial funds, connect key contacts, and quickly integrate into the new industrial ecosystem.
This article is from the WeChat official account "36Kr Future Industries". Author: Zhang Bingbing, A Zhi. Published by 36Kr with authorization.