As Xiaomi officially unveiled its 3nm chip, Hanxing Venture Capital, a venture capital firm under Xiaomi, made a move.
A reporter from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily noticed that,recently, Hefei Yinshi New Material Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Yinshi New Material) underwent industrial and commercial changes, adding Hanxing Venture Capital Co., Ltd., Qiangbang New Material (001279), and Hefei Baohe District Science and Technology Innovation Seed Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) as shareholders. Its registered capital increased from RMB 1 million to approximately RMB 1.1167 million.
The reporter learned that Hanxing Venture Capital, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xiaomi Group, is primarily responsible for Xiaomi Group's strategic and financial investments.
Regarding this investment,an informed source told the reporter from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that the company invested in by Hanxing Venture Capital is a "solid-state battery" enterprise.Currently, solid-state batteries are becoming the development direction in the NEV sector, prompting Xiaomi to go all out in this technological field.
Hanxing Venture Capital invests in a solid-state battery company that was established less than half a year ago.
Data from FinT Venture Capital Tong shows that Yinshi New Material was established in December 2024 and recently completed its angel round of financing. In terms of timing, this financing occurred less than half a year after the company's establishment.
Why did Yinshi New Material, which has only been established for half a year, gain the favour of Hanxing Venture Capital? A reporter from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily learned from an informed source that this is because the company is a solid-state battery enterprise.
"The company's founder, Wang Xiaolong, is a seasoned expert in the field of new materials and has been conducting research in this area. Currently, Yinshi New Material already holds a technological patent," the source said.
A reporter from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily noticed that,on May 9 this year, Yinshi New Material completed a technological achievement transformation with Yanshan University, acquiring the invention patent from inventors Zhang Long and Zhang Zhixia. The technological achievement transformation documents indicate that the patent is for an oxygen-doped sulphide solid electrolyte and its preparation method.
An individual from the lithium battery industry chain told a reporter from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that in recent years, solid-state batteries have become a market focus, but currently, small-batch mass production is still dominated by semi-solid-state batteries.
"As one of the technological routes, all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries represent a development direction. In particular, CATL has recently expressed clear optimism about the sulphide solid-state battery technological route, and Huawei has also applied for patents for sulphide solid-state batteries, shifting market attention from the oxide route to the sulphide route," the industry chain individual said.However, in terms of technological breakthroughs, sulphide solid electrolytes among inorganic solid electrolytes are sensitive to air and exhibit poor electrochemical stability with cathodes and lithium metal. Therefore, it is necessary to achieve simplified preparation processes and highly reproducible performance characteristics through technological optimization.
In the field of solid-state batteries, Xiaomi has already made strategic arrangements. Data from Cailian Press's Venture Capital Channel shows that Xiaomi has invested in several companies related to solid-state batteries, including WELION New Energy, Ganfeng LiEnergy, Faanlate, and Tianmu XianDao . Among these companies, WELION New Energy provided NIO with a 150kWh semi-solid-state battery pack in 2024. Additionally, WELION New Energy has collaborated with Huayou Cobalt, Enjie Co., Easpring Technology, and Ronbay Technology to jointly advance the industrialisation of solid-state battery technology.
It is evident that, beyond continuous investment in technology, Xiaomi's layout in the solid-state battery field has extended to the industrial ecosystem. This investment in Yinshi New Materials is not only a choice for technological synergy but also closely related to Hefei's industrial ecosystem.
Why Hefei?
In addition to the bets placed by Xiaomi's funds, a reporter from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily noted that among the shareholders of Yinshi New Materials is the Hefei Baohe District Science and Technology Seed Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership).
Equity penetration reveals that the actual controller of this fund is the Hefei Baohe District Science and Technology Seed Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership), holding a 99.9001% stake. The latter is backed by the Binhu Financial Investment Group, a state-owned enterprise authorized by the Hefei Baohe District People's Government and funded by the Baohe District State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
Prior to this angel round investment, the Hefei Baohe District Science and Technology Seed Fund had also invested in several angel round projects, including Qingci Technology, Yilian Litong, Kaixu Feihang, Kasen Aviation, and Synaire.
An investor familiar with Hefei's industrial development told the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporter that due to the establishment of NIO and BOE, Hefei has a manufacturing gene in its industry, and correspondingly, its layout in the solid-state battery field is also relatively advanced. "Several companies within Hefei, such as Gotion High-tech and Acrel, are making efforts in solid-state battery technology. At the same time, the industry chain is gradually being perfected, covering areas from material R&D to battery production."
The Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporter learned that as one of the industry leaders, Gotion High-tech released the all-solid-state battery "Golden Stone Battery" in Hefei in 2024, with an energy density of 350Wh/kg. After completing a tens of millions angel round financing, Huacai (Hefei) New Energy Technology also established a solid-state battery electrolyte production line. In May, the first 5GWh all-solid-state battery production line at CATL's Hefei factory officially began production...
The aforementioned investor stated that historically, every major breakthrough in the energy sector has given rise to a batch of industry giants. For example, BYD has emerged in the market with its LFP battery technology, while CATL has achieved great success in the era of ternary lithium batteries. Therefore, enterprises that can take the lead in gaining an advantage in the next round of battery technology transformation are expected to occupy an important position in the new energy market, and solid-state batteries are the next "treasure".
From the perspective of technical performance, reliability and durability are important indicators for evaluating whether a technology has broad application potential. Solid-state battery technology demonstrates potential and advantages in this regard:
Firstly, the energy density of solid-state batteries can easily reach 500Wh/kg, which is nearly double that of Tesla's current battery technology.
Secondly, the volume of solid-state batteries is only half that of traditional lithium batteries, which means that under the same volume or weight constraints, solid-state batteries can provide a longer driving range, easily achieving a 1,000-kilometer driving capability.
Thirdly, solid-state batteries also offer a fundamental improvement in safety, effectively avoiding potential safety issues within traditional lithium batteries. Moreover, the service life of solid-state batteries can be as long as 20 years, which largely meets consumers' expectations for the reliability and durability of battery products.
However, despite the advantages of solid-state batteries in terms of energy density and safety, their commercialization still needs to overcome cost and supply chain bottlenecks.
"As the industry says, moving from the 'technological tipping point' to the 'performance explosion point' requires not only technological iteration but also relies on the formation of industry chain synergy and economies of scale. Currently, high costs and an imperfect raw material supply chain are the pain points for the development of solid-state batteries," the investor concluded.
