China's TOPE raises $15M Series B as state capital backs solid-state battery gear
What's the deal? TOPEDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Xi'an-based maker of dry-process solid-state battery equipment, has raised nearly US$13.8M in a Series B round. Backers include Daqin Capital — a unit of Shaanxi provincial state investor Shaanxi Caijin — alongside Changzhou Tianning Industrial Investment and Guangzhou Liwan Industrial Investment.
Why now? It is TOPE's second raise within a year, following a December 2025 Series A+ led by Guangzhou Industrial Control Donggao Fund. The company says orders grew more than 100% in 2026, and it has been named a Shaanxi pre-IPO enterprise.
What's the endgame? TOPE builds full-line equipment for dry electrodes and all-solid-state batteries, with products spanning lab, pilot, mid-scale, and mass-production lines. The dry electrode process it focuses on cuts solvent use and can simplify certain steps — a key link between materials breakthroughs and actual manufacturing.
Where's the money going? Funds will support technology iteration, capacity building, and market expansion. TOPE runs R&D in Xi'an, assembly in Changzhou, and pilot validation in Guangzhou, and the new state-linked investors give it footholds across all three regions.
By the numbers: On deal size, TOPE's round sits near the middle of the pack, in the 52nd percentile of comparable rounds. That places it as a meaningful but not outsized commitment to the sector.
What could go wrong? The announcement discloses no customer contracts or independently verified order figures. TOPE's reported order growth remains a company claim, not proof that solid-state batteries are nearing broad commercial deployment.
The signal: The round reflects a broader shift in China's solid-state battery sector from research toward equipment and manufacturing. Suppliers such as Tinci have begun trial production on a 100-tonne-class electrolyte line, and Lyric has approved a plan to raise up to US$177.4M, part of it for solid-state equipment R&D — a sign capital is flowing to the picks-and-shovels end of the industry.
Read more: news.metal.com
Image credit: HTS Ultra-Rack
