- Fudan spinout will use fresh funding to expand manufacturing and accelerate next-generation sodium battery development
- The deal adds another round of backing for the startup as investors bet on cheaper alternatives to lithium-ion batteries
Suzhou-based sodium battery startup HidFunc (隐功科技) has raised more than 100 million yuan ($14.72 million) in a pre-Series A+ funding round to expand production capacity and accelerate development of next-generation sodium-ion batteries, as competition intensifies in China’s alternative battery sector.
The round, announced on July 2, was co-led by QF Capital and the Fudan Innovation & Entrepreneurship Fund, with participation from Suzhou Sci-Tech Venture Capital, Xianghe Capital and strategic industry investors, the company said.
Financial terms beyond the disclosed fundraising amount were not released.
The latest proceeds will be used to build new production lines and further develop the company’s sodium battery platform, which includes high-energy-density, high-power and high-safety product families.
Another Fudan spinout
Founded in December 2023, HidFunc is among a small number of Chinese startups pursuing vertically integrated sodium battery manufacturing.
The company was spun out of Fudan University, where co-founder and chief scientist Wang Fei (王飞), a professor working on new materials and applications, developed its core “anode-free” sodium battery technology before commercializing it.
Unlike conventional sodium-ion batteries, the company’s anode-free architecture aims to reduce manufacturing costs while achieving energy densities closer to lithium-ion cells.
The anode-free approach
This pathway positions the technology as a potential alternative for applications where cost and safety are critical.
The startup said its battery portfolio targets markets ranging from consumer electronics and power tools to electric vehicles, low-altitude aircraft and stationary energy storage.
According to the startup, its “High Speed” (隐速) high-power series has already entered China’s leading tier of sodium battery suppliers by shipment, while its “Hidden Peak” (隐峰) high-energy products are undergoing qualification tests with multiple passenger and commercial vehicle manufacturers.
Scaling from lab to factory
Wang said the biggest hurdle in commercializing the technology was not inventing the battery chemistry but manufacturing it consistently at scale.
“When production targets rise into the millions of cells, yield becomes the defining variable,” he once told Fudan University’s official media outlet, adding that the company has relied on fundamental electrochemical modeling rather than trial-and-error to optimize production processes.
Endorsement from backers
“HidFunc has built a strong technological moat around its anode-free sodium battery platform. Through innovations in cell architecture and materials, the company has achieved energy density comparable to lithium-ion batteries while significantly lowering costs,” QF Capital, the lead backer in the latest follow-on funding, said in a statement.
The investor added that commercialization has progressed rapidly, particularly in light electric mobility and motorcycle start-stop batteries, where the products address the limitations of conventional lead-acid and lithium-ion technologies.
Investors deepen their bets
The Fudan Innovation & Entrepreneurship Fund, one of the prestigious university’s recently launched venture units, said its injection into HidFunc completes a “university fund-faculty team-industrial commercialization” cycle.
This also helps accelerate the transition of technologies developed in Fudan University laboratories to gigawatt-hour-scale manufacturing, the fund added.
With a first close of 1 billion yuan, it was set up in December 2025 to support ventures initiated by Fudan faculty members under the Project 985 university’s initiative to cultivate a group of scientist-entrepreneurs in a number of emerging sectors.
Aside from capital commitments, the fund also channels its support into HidFunc through industry-academia collaboration, talent development and national research programs.
The latest financing follows an angel round backed by Luminous Ventures and SoftBank China, as well as a pre-Series A round led by IDG Capital with participation from Xianghe Capital and local state-backed investors.
*Fudan University’s official media outlet contributed to this story.
