3DC, a Japanese startup developing three-dimensional graphene materials, announced Feb. 27 the close of the second tranche of its Series A funding round. The tranche raised ¥370 million (approximately $2 million), bringing the total Series A haul to ¥2.82 billion (approximately $18 million).
The company was founded in 2022 by CEO Takuma Kuroda, formerly of Japanese venture capital firm Samurai Incubate, and Hirotomo Nishihara, a professor at Tohoku University who serves as chief science officer.
GMS: Sponge-Like Flexibility Meets High Conductivity
Graphene is among the materials attracting the greatest attention in materials science today, prized for its mechanical strength and electrical conductivity. It first entered public consciousness when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 for their work isolating the material.
The method Geim and Novoselov used was disarmingly simple: repeatedly pressing and peeling scotch tape against graphite — the material found in pencil leads. Industrial-scale production of graphene by such means is far from efficient, however, and the search for better manufacturing processes continues.
The appeal of graphene comes down to two core properties. Single-layer graphene exhibits exceptional tensile strength — it is remarkably resistant to tearing when pulled flat. It is also a highly effective electrical conductor.
Nishihara has spent more than a decade researching graphene at Tohoku University, the company says. That work culminated in the development of Graphene MesoSponge (GMS), a three-dimensional form of graphene. 3DC touts GMS as a carbon material that, counterintuitively, possesses sponge-like mechanical flexibility — while retaining graphene’s inherently high conductivity. Although 3DC does not explicitly make the claim, the material’s graphene base also suggests a degree of structural durability when incorporated into products.
3DC argues that GMS’s properties make it suitable not only for improving the performance of lithium-ion batteries, but also as a material for next-generation batteries such as all-solid-state and lithium-air batteries. The company also exhibited at CES in Las Vegas in this January.
Proceeds to Fund Scale-Up
Participants in the Series A second tranche included Nippon Carbide Industries, a Japanese materials manufacturer; TOAGOSEI, a Japanese chemical company; ZER01NE Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of South Korea’s Hyundai-Kia; and Ashizawa Finetech.
3DC says it plans to deploy the capital toward:
- Capital expenditure for the construction of a mass-production facility
- R&D to establish a ton-scale GMS production process
- Strengthening global supply capacity for customer evaluation and commercial GMS
- Expanding R&D personnel and deepening overseas partnerships
No comment from 3DC’s own management was included in the announcement. Hidenori Kobuchi, president and COO of investor TOAGOSEI, said the company is confident that the development and mass production of GMS will make a significant contribution to improving battery performance and longevity.
