Sinopec has acquired a 49.9 percent stake in Feize, whose core business is the manufacture of lightweight carbon fiber composites.
Nio has invested in a number of startups through its venture capital arm, Nio Capital, some of which are also receiving new funding.
Langfang, Hebei province-based Feize Composites Technology Co recently received an investment from Sinopec's venture capital arm, according to a release from Nio Capital today.
Feize's core business is the manufacture of lightweight carbon fiber composites, focusing on providing solutions that include structural design, simulation and analysis, and material development for customers in the automotive, wind power, rail transportation, and civil aviation sectors.
Currently, Feize has delivered more than 80,000 sets of high-strength carbon fiber composite rear panels, and the mass production is an important milestone in the large-scale application of carbon fiber composites in China's automotive industry, according to Nio Capital.
According to a report by local media Cailian, the 80,000-plus sets of carbon-fiber composite rear panels were used in the Nio ES6.
(Image credit: Nio Capital)
Nio Capital did not provide any further information, but according to a report in Hebei Daily, Sinopec acquired a 49.9 percent stake in Feize.
Notably, Nio Capital is one of the founding parties of Feize.
Founded in 2014, Kangde Composites was the first Chinese company to achieve mass production of carbon fiber for the automotive sector, with orders from Nio, BAIC, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
At the beginning of 2019, Kangde Composites stopped production because its parent company, Kangde Group, was in financial difficulties.
In February 2019, Langfang provided RMB 10 million from government bailout funds to a local state-owned company to establish Feize, a joint venture with Nio Capital.
Feize leased the assets of Kangde Composites, which was able to continue its operations.
