2DM closes investment round with Sojitz Group and CSN Inova

Singapore, 24th June 2021 – 2D Materials Pte. Ltd. (2DM) announced today it has signed an investment agreement with Sojitz Group, one of the world’s leading trading companies from Japan for a multitude of products to various industries worldwide, and CSN Inova Ventures, the Corporate Venture Capital of CSN, one of the largest fully integrated steel producers in Brazil. This investment secures funding to accelerate the production and development of new applications for its high-performance graphene products. Together with 2DM’s first strategic investor, CBMM, the world’s leading company for niobium products and technology, this synergistic partnership is expected to bring significant developments into areas such as energy storage, composite materials, steel manufacturing, functional coatings, lubricants, and others.

 

Graphene, a 2D material composed of monoatomic carbon layers, has attracted interest worldwide since its discovery in 2004 by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, due to its unique properties, such as high strength and high thermal and electrical conductivities.

 

2DM’s core technology is a proprietary graphene production process developed by Dr. Ricardo Oliveira and Professor Antonio H. Castro Neto at the Centre for Advanced 2D Materials (CA2DM) at NUS, the first dedicated centre for graphene research in Asia. 2DM is and has been producing high-performance graphene since 2015. Since last year, through the strategic partnership with CBMM and Enterprise Singapore (government agency championing enterprise development in Singapore), 2DM has achieved the ton-per-month scale in its fully functional commercial plant.

 

[From left to right: Prof. Sir Konstantin Novoselov, Prof. Antonio H. Castro Neto, and Dr. Ricardo Oliveira at 2DM’s facilities]

 

“2DM has made substantial advances in the areas of defence, marine, automotive, energy storage as well as biosensors. Some of these developments, such as the Graphene-Enhanced Helmet, are being commercially launched by our development partners. Our new strategic partnership with Sojitz Group will enable us to quicken the pace of graphene adoption through its vast commercial network. Also, the strategic partnership with CSN Inova Ventures shines the spotlight on graphene/metal alloys and their expertise in steel, metals, cement, and iron ore will greatly help us to bring value to these high-volume applications. Of course, on top of our current partnership with CBMM, which continues to yield good progress in the areas of energy storage and to the automotive industry. Overall, this investment is another important step on our remarkable and exciting journey.” noted Dr. Ricardo Oliveira, Co-founder and CTO of 2DM.

[Graphene-Enhanced Helmet]

 

 

About 2DM

2D Materials Pte. Ltd. (2DM) manufactures high-performance graphene as an industrial additive to enhance the properties of many industrial materials such as paints & coatings, batteries, composites, polymers, and lubricants. The company’s mission is to expand the frontier of materials application through the use of high-performance graphene. 2DM’s main goal is to apply graphene as an additive to improve various material properties for markets such as automotive, electric vehicles, aeronautics, marine, energy storage, defence, construction, electronics, among others.

 

About Sojitz Group

As a general trading company, the Sojitz Group is engaged in a wide range of businesses globally, including buying, selling, importing, and exporting goods, manufacturing, and selling products, providing services, and planning and coordinating projects, in Japan and overseas. The Group also invests in various sectors and conducts financing activities. The broad range of sectors in which Sojitz operates includes those related to automobiles, plants, aerospace, medical infrastructure, energy, mineral resources, chemicals, foodstuff resources, agricultural and forestry resources, consumer goods, and industrial parks.

 

About CSN Inova

The innovation arm of Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional, CSN Inova aims to position the company strategically and actively in any innovation ecosystem, and it is formed by three fronts: Inova Ventures (builds opportunities via co-development and participation in start-ups), Inova Open (innovation management and open innovation) and Inova Bridge (executes and monitors projects related to ESG factors).  CSN Inova identifies the internal challenges of different areas of CSN company and conduct the process of open innovation, connecting its employees with innovative solutions, either through co-creation, co-development, or by partnerships with start-ups and other agents of the ecosystem.

 

Media Contacts

Ricardo Oliveira

Ricardo.oliveira@2dmsolutions.com

Foo Chwan Chieh

Chwanchieh.foo@2dmsolutions.com

+65 6970 8098