Liyang Tianmu Pioneer Battery Materials Technology Co., Ltd. (“Tianmu Pioneer”) has officially announced the completion of its Series B financing, with investors including Zhizhuo Innovation Capital, CITIC Securities, and Jinshi Investment. According to Tianyancha records, this is the company’s seventh funding round since establishment. Late last year, Tianmu Pioneer added another significant shareholder when CATL invested via the Fujian Time Zeyuan Equity Investment Fund.
A Pedigree from the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Tianmu Pioneer’s technology DNA traces back to the Institute of Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Headquartered in Liyang, Jiangsu Province, the company was founded in 2017 by a team led by Chen Liquan, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Li Hong, Research Fellow at the Institute of Physics.
Chen Liquan, an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Research Fellow at the Institute of Physics, has spent decades on lithium battery and supporting materials research, and is widely regarded as “the father of Chinese lithium batteries.” Li Hong, a Research Fellow at the Institute of Physics, is also Convenor of the overall expert group for the 14th Five-Year Plan’s key special project on energy storage and smart grids (MOST/MIIT), and is recognised as one of the founding figures of China’s solid-state lithium battery technology. Chairman and General Manager Dr Luo Fei — also a graduate of the Institute of Physics — is a core team member responsible for day-to-day operations.
Why Silicon Matters
Silicon-based anode is widely regarded as the core direction for next-generation lithium battery technology. Compared with today’s mainstream graphite anode, silicon has a theoretical specific capacity of approximately 4,200 mAh/g — close to ten times that of graphite. However, silicon undergoes significant volume expansion during charge–discharge cycles, which can cause rapid capacity fade. Balancing high energy density against long cycle life is one of the key challenges the global power battery industry is racing to solve.
As early as 1996, Chen Liquan and Li Hong’s team began work on nanoscale silicon-based anode materials, filing some of the earliest patents in the field globally. After more than two decades of sustained research, the team progressively resolved a series of technical bottlenecks and engineering scale-up challenges, ultimately landing commercialisation and mass production through Tianmu Pioneer.
From R&D to Industrialisation
Tianmu Pioneer now sits at the top of China’s high-end nanoscale silicon-based anode segment. The company’s main businesses cover R&D and production of high-end nanoscale silicon-based anode for lithium-ion batteries, solid-state electrolytes, and hard carbon anode materials for sodium-ion batteries.
On the industrialisation side, Tianmu Pioneer has been expanding aggressively. In February 2022, the company began capacity expansion at its Liyang headquarters base, with the new site covering approximately 200 mu (around 13 hectares) and a target capacity of 86,000 tpa at full build-out. Later that year, the company established next-generation silicon-based anode production bases in Xuchang (Henan) and Chengdu (Sichuan). In October 2025, Tianmu Pioneer signed a cooperation agreement for a high-end silicon-carbon anode production base in Zhoushan with total planned investment of RMB 4 billion (~US$588 million). Just a month later, the company committed a further RMB 5 billion (~US$735 million) in Ordos to build a silicon-carbon anode production base with annual output value targeted to exceed RMB 10 billion (~US$1.47 billion).
Tianmu Pioneer has now successfully entered the supply chains of leading global power battery makers including BYD, CATL, LG, and SK.
The Ordos Project: Scaling Up Despite a Reset
In November last year, the Junggar Banner government, the Junggar Economic Development Zone, and Tianmu Pioneer signed an investment cooperation agreement for a planned RMB 5 billion (~US$735 million) phased build-out of a high-end nanoscale silicon-carbon anode production base. Phase 1 was scoped at 20,000 tpa of silicon-carbon anode and 10,000 tpa of porous carbon; Phase 2 would add a further 30,000 tpa of silicon-carbon anode and 20,000 tpa of porous carbon.
Earlier this year, the Inner Mongolia Investment Project Online Approval Office published a notice approving the withdrawal of Tianmu Pioneer’s integrated high-end nanoscale silicon-carbon anode and porous carbon project in Inner Mongolia. The construction plan had undergone material changes and required re-filing, prompting the original project to be cancelled.
The recent publication of tender results for the site clearance works at the plant suggests project construction remains on track, with the cleared site to provide the platform for subsequent main-works construction.
Note: All CNY figures converted to USD at an approximate rate of 1 USD = 6.80 CNY as of 22 May 2026.
Source: Shimo Shixun (石墨时讯), “院士团队掌舷，负极黑马已完成7轮融资”, republished via WeChat, May 2026.
Disclosure: This article has been translated from a Chinese-language source published on WeChat. For clarity and formatting purposes, GraphiteHub has made some adjustments; however, all underlying facts, figures, and quotations are from the original source. GraphiteHub does not guarantee the accuracy of the translation and accepts no responsibility for any errors, omissions, or misinterpretations. Readers should refer to the original WeChat article for the authoritative source material. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
