German returnee doctor starts a business. Sodiumyuan New Materials' NFS system materials enter mass production, set to launch ten-thousand-ton production capacity | Exclusive from 36Kr
Author: Ou Xue
Editor: Yuan Silai
Yingke learned that Sodium Yuanxin Materials Technology (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Sodium Yuanxin Materials"), a company specializing in cathode materials for sodium - ion batteries, recently completed a financing of tens of millions of RMB. We have summarized the information of this round of financing and several highlights of the company:
Financing Amount and Leading Investor
Financing Round: Pre - A Round
Financing Amount: Tens of millions of RMB
Investment Institutions: Guoxin Venture Capital, Zilue Capital
Use of Funds: Mainly used for the expansion of the ten - thousand - ton production line capacity, R & D investment in anode - free sodium batteries, and the expansion of production, sales, supply chain teams, as well as market development
Basic Company Information
Establishment Time: 2022
Company Headquarters: Xinwu District, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province
Core Product: Modified polyanionic sodium iron sulfate (NFS) cathode material system material (main material + special additive)
Technical Highlights: First, the original "soft - hard combination" system: The company is currently the only enterprise that can provide the core "hard" additive for NFS on a large scale. Its core expertise focuses on the design optimization and performance breakthrough of sodium iron sulfate (NFS) cathode materials for sodium batteries. Through the synergy of the main material and additives, it has independently developed the "skeleton - building" additive technology, successfully overcoming key industry technical bottlenecks such as low compaction density, rapid high - temperature cycle decay, and gas generation and swelling of NFS materials, achieving a multiplier effect on material performance.
Second, easy to recycle and high - voltage platform: NFS materials have the characteristic of being water - soluble and easy to recycle, which can form a low - cost closed - loop cycle; its 3.6V high - voltage platform provides a higher energy density upper limit for the next - generation anode - free/solid - state sodium batteries (the theoretical energy density of anode - free sodium batteries can reach 200 Wh/kg, and that of solid/semi - solid sodium batteries can reach 250 - 320 Wh/kg).
Product Application: It mainly targets the markets of light - duty power (two/three - wheelers), UPS power supplies, and start - stop power supplies, and also lays out scenarios such as aircraft, robots, energy storage, high - power applications, and AIDC (Artificial Intelligence Data Center) backup power. The next - generation anode - free battery technology aims to enter and disrupt the medium - and low - nickel ternary and lithium iron phosphate markets.
Sodium iron sulfate system material and solid electrolyte material (Source/Enterprise)
Market Size
The sodium battery industry is in the early stage of large - scale mass production. According to the industry data provided by the company, by 2030, only in the polyanionic route of sodium battery cathode materials, the market scale is expected to increase from 2,000 tons in 2023 - 2024 to 2 million tons, corresponding to a market increment of 40 billion yuan; the entire sodium battery market is expected to increase from 4GWh to 1TWh, with a market space of 500 billion yuan.
Company Performance
Sodium Yuanxin Materials has witnessed rapid revenue growth. The company has transformed and built a 5,000 - ton NFS mass - production line in Jiangxi and is planning a ten - thousand - ton production line in the first phase in Lu'an, Anhui. It is expected to have a ten - thousand - ton supply capacity next year to meet the demand of thousands of tons from customers. Currently, it has sent samples to more than a hundred customers for testing and signed orders for thousands of tons.
Engineering and Technology Center of Sodium Yuanxin Materials (Source/Enterprise)
Team Background
The company was founded by a team of doctors with a profound German industrial and scientific research background, combining the rigorous spirit of German industry with China's high - efficiency execution ability. Liu Zhongqing, the founder and CEO of Sodium Yuanxin Materials, holds a German doctoral degree. He conducted post - doctoral research at the Jülich Research Center (in the team of Martin Winter, an academician of the German Academy of Engineering), then engaged in product development at the German Schott Group and energy research at the University of Oxford, with both academic background and industrial practice experience.
Founder's Thoughts
Yingke: Why choose the sodium iron sulfate (NFS) route?
Liu Zhongqing: The raw materials for this material are chemical by - products, namely ferrous sulfate and sodium sulfate. Its cost is very low. The BOM cost of the entire material is within 10,000 yuan. Batteries made from this material can currently achieve an energy density of 120 watt - hours per kilogram, and the next - generation anode - free battery can reach 200 watt - hours per kilogram. Except for the high development difficulty, this material basically has all advantages.
Yingke: How to understand the explosion logic of sodium batteries in the light - duty power market?
Liu Zhongqing: Currently, 95% of the light - duty power market still uses lead - acid batteries, which is a pure blue ocean for sodium batteries. Once the technology matures and the products are launched, it's like getting a new weapon and directly achieving a dimensionality - reduction strike. So now the competition in the industry is about who can achieve large - scale production and enter the end - market first - in essence, it's a race for market share.
Yingke: What are the company's next - step R & D and market layout priorities?
Liu Zhongqing: In the R & D direction, we will definitely continue to invest in the development of the polyanionic material system to maintain our leading position. Another focus is the anode - free battery system, which we have listed as a key area for future development.
In terms of the market, in addition to the domestic light - duty power market, we are also proactively laying out overseas markets. The European market is very environmentally friendly and has already banned lead. At the same time, they also have concerns about lithium batteries, so sodium batteries are a good choice. Currently, we have made some end - market layouts and optimizations in Southeast Asia and Europe.
Investors' Views
Guoxin Venture Capital said: "Guoxin Venture Capital has always been concerned about new - material enterprises with core technologies and large - scale production capabilities. Sodium Yuanxin Materials has established a complete technical closed - loop from R & D, production line equipment design to full - battery cell design in the fields of layered oxide and polyanionic cathode materials. The hundred - ton pilot line equipped in its Wuxi Engineering and Technology Center has achieved integrated continuous production, and the process stability has been verified by downstream customers. The ten - thousand - ton production line supported by this round of financing in Lu'an will help the enterprise seize the opportunity of large - scale production before the explosion period of the sodium battery industry in 2026, and will form a supply capacity with annual sales of billions of yuan. What we value more is that Sodium Yuanxin Materials' ability to independently design and transform production lines helps to build a supply chain system that does not rely on external equipment, which is of strategic significance for ensuring supply chain security in the current industrial environment."
Zilue Capital said: "Zilue Capital has been continuously tracking disruptive innovations in the new energy field. The 'anode - free sodium battery' technology direction laid out by Sodium Yuanxin Materials is highly consistent with the patent layout of industry leaders such as CATL in the next - generation sodium batteries, representing the core path for future cost reduction and efficiency improvement. The company has currently developed three types of cathode materials, namely energy - storage type, power type, and capacity type, which are suitable for the anode - free technology of sodium batteries. The single - cell energy density can reach over 200Wh/kg, and it has connected with more than thirty downstream customers and signed multiple mass - production demand agreements for thousands of tons or more. This capital will accelerate the industrialization of Sodium Yuanxin Materials' cathode materials and the commercialization breakthrough of the anode - free technology for sodium batteries, helping the enterprise to establish a customer barrier in the energy - storage and low - speed power markets during the critical window period when the cost of sodium batteries drops to 0.3 yuan/Wh. We believe that only enterprises with both material innovation and engineering capabilities can stand out in the long - term race of sodium - lithium substitution."