Battery Anode Materials Developer Tanovus Secures Pre-A Round Financing

On March 17, battery anode material startup Tanovus announced the successful completion of its Pre-A round financing, with investments totaling tens of millions of yuan led by IDG Capital. The company has confirmed that it will soon welcome A round financing.

The development of electric vehicles and consumer electronics, which rely on lithium-ion batteries as their energy supply, has been rapidly growing. However, the capacity of the traditional graphite anode used in conventional lithium-ion batteries has reached its theoretical maximum of 372 mAh/g. As a result, it is no longer able to meet the increasing demand from consumers for longer driving ranges and faster charging capabilities.

Currently, the silicon-carbon anode, which offers an extremely high energy density, is generally regarded as the next generation of anode material after graphite. However, its application still faces some challenges that are difficult to overcome, such as high expansion, low cycle life, and high cost.

Established in December 2019, Tanovus’s TANO3D technology allows for the precise synthesis of new, controllable three-dimensional micro-nano materials. These materials can be used to develop silicon-carbon anodes, sodium-carbon anodes, and lithium fast-charging carbon anodes.

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Tanovus founder Chen Shucheng is a graduate of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University and has co-authored more than 40 scholarly articles and patents related to new materials. The company also employs experts from companies such as Toyota, paint solutions provider Sherwin-Williams, and US-based Johnson & Johnson. Currently, Tanovus has a laboratory in Silicon Valley, as well as operational and experimental centers in Beijing and Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.

Chen remarked, “The innovation of silicon-carbon technology has reached a breakthrough point, and many companies in the U.S. have started testing. Tanovus is creating new materials rather than transforming existing ones, which gives us a significant advantage.”