"Silicon Ceramics New Energy" Secures Tens of Millions in Series A Funding after Winning Key Semiconductor Customer's Powder Material Procurement Order | Exclusive Report by 36Kr

Text | Zhang Bingbing

Editor | A Zhi

36Kr learned that Beijing Xici New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xici New Energy") recently completed a tens of millions of yuan Series A financing. This round of financing was led by Zhongguancun Capital, followed by Beiyang Haitang Fund, and old shareholders Jinqiao Fund and Shangshi Capital continued to increase their investment. The funds will be mainly used for the expansion of the production capacity of 7N high-purity synthetic quartz sand and the construction of a mass production line for 3C - silicon carbide powder, accelerating the domestic substitution of semiconductor core materials.

"Xici New Energy" is an enterprise that 36Kr has been following for a long time. It focuses on the R & D and production of key upstream materials for semiconductors and has laid out products such as synthetic quartz sand, aluminum nitride, and silicon carbide, covering structural components in core semiconductor process links such as etching rings and photomasks, as well as application scenarios such as single crystal substrates and chip thermal management.

In November 2025, "Xici New Energy" passed the certification of a key customer and signed a long - term procurement order. Ding Xifeng, the founder of "Xici New Energy", introduced that this customer is a quartz device consumables company, and its downstream customers include semiconductor companies such as Huahong Semiconductor and SMIC. The overall order scale is tens of millions of yuan per year. "For a growing enterprise, this is a medium - to - large - scale order. At the same time, this order is of different significance to our enterprise because it is the first long - term procurement order we signed, and we completed the etching process certification from start to finish, which is very important to us."

For upstream supply chain enterprises, on the basis of their own technological breakthroughs, it is an important process to deeply integrate into the customer's production line and complete the two - way adaptation of product technology. Ding Xifeng further introduced: "At the beginning of the test, we only focused on important indicators such as purity, particle size, and morphology. But in fact, customers have very strict requirements on the transparency and bubble content of quartz profiles, which requires us to make further adjustments in the process. Only by deeply integrating into the customer's production line can we have a deeper understanding."

At the same time, the signing of the long - term order means that the factory production line of "Xici New Energy" can gradually develop from intermittent production to continuous production. In the continuous production state, the product stability can be further improved, and the cost can be reduced.

Currently, "Xici New Energy" relies on the independently developed "polymer gel method" platform - level process and has planned two main product series: Silicon series products include synthetic quartz sand, 3C - silicon carbide, 4H - silicon carbide, etc.; Aluminum series products mainly include ceramic - grade aluminum nitride and semiconductor - grade aluminum nitride.

Among them, the quartz sand products of "Xici New Energy" have achieved large - scale mass production. Ding Xifeng introduced that the mass - produced quartz sand products aim at "domestic substitution" and are divided into two types: The first product is benchmarked against imported natural sand from the United States. Synthetic quartz sand is used to replace natural sand, getting rid of the dependence on high - grade ores from the United States. The product features slightly lower purity but better high - temperature resistance, imitating natural ores. The second product is benchmarked against the high - purity synthetic quartz sand of Mitsubishi Chemical in Japan, featuring high purity and is used in the most precise parts of semiconductors.

"Xici New Energy" has achieved the integration of "synthesis - purification" in the production process through the "polymer gel method" technology. The total impurity content of the quartz sand products is controlled below 0.1 ppm. At the same time, the particle size distribution of the products can be controlled by adjusting the degree of polymerization, enabling the key performance indicators such as purity, particle size distribution, and density of the synthetic quartz sand products to reach the international level.

With the signing of the long - term procurement order, the 300 - ton synthetic quartz sand production line of "Xici New Energy" is approaching full - load operation. It is expected that the production expansion will be launched in the middle of 2026, and the production scale will be expanded to 1000 tons. At the same time, the 3C - silicon carbide product has completed the pilot test and samples have been sent to the top - tier suppliers in the industry, receiving small - batch test orders. After this round of financing, the construction of a 300 - ton annual production line for 3C - silicon carbide will be launched.

Ding Xifeng expects that the revenue of "Xici New Energy" will reach tens of millions of yuan in 2026. With the commissioning of the 3C - silicon carbide powder project, the expansion of the synthetic quartz sand production line, and the passing of customer verification in the second half of the year, the revenue is expected to double in 2027.

Views of the investors:

Zhongguancun Capital: One generation of technology requires one generation of materials. Materials are always the cornerstone for the development and iteration of new technologies. Against the backdrop of the booming development of industries such as artificial intelligence and commercial aerospace, the key role of materials, especially basic materials represented by powders, has become increasingly prominent. Zhongguancun Capital has been paying long - term attention to and making layouts in the materials field. This investment in "Xici New Energy" is another key move by Zhongguancun Capital in the domestic substitution track of key materials.

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This article is from the WeChat official account "36Kr Future Industries". Author: Zhang Bingbing, A Zhi. Republished by 36Kr with permission.