Natron Energy

Natron Energy, a sodium-ion battery startup founded in 2012, shut down operations in September 2025 due to funding issues.^1248914 The company had raised over $363 million and planned a $1.4 billion gigafactory in North Carolina, but faced liquidity problems and certification delays.²⁸⁹¹⁴ Natron laid off 95 employees and entered an assignment for the benefit of creditors, with its largest shareholder Sherwood Partners selling assets.²¹⁴

Timeline

Money raised

Natron Energy raised over $363 million from investors including Khosla Ventures, Liberty Oilfield Services, and United Airlines.²⁸⁹¹⁴ In January 2013, Natron Energy raised a $1 million Series A round led by Khosla Ventures.⁹ In March 2016, Natron Energy raised a $7 million Series B round led by Fluxus Ventures.⁹ In November 2017, Natron Energy raised an $8 million Series C round.⁹ In July 2020, Natron Energy raised a $35 million Series D round co-led by ABB Technology Ventures, NanoDimension Capital, and Volta Energy Technologies.⁹¹³ In September 2020, Natron Energy received a $19.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.⁵ In October 2021, Natron Energy raised a $58 million Series A round led by Liberty Energy and Nabors Industries.⁹ In January 2024, Natron Energy raised $189 million in a Series F round.⁹ In April 2025, Natron Energy raised a $55.4 million Series F-II round led by Intel Capital.²⁹

Investors named in the sources: Khosla Ventures^2891314, Liberty Oilfield Services²⁹, United Airlines²⁹, Chevron Technology Ventures⁵⁹¹³¹⁴, Prelude Ventures⁵⁹¹³, ABB Technology Ventures⁹¹³, NanoDimension Capital⁹¹³, Volta Energy Technologies⁹¹³, Fluxus Ventures⁹, Liberty Energy⁹, Nabors Industries⁹, +ND Capital⁹, Intel Capital⁹, Aramco Ventures⁹¹⁴, Sherwood Partners¹⁴.

What happened

Natron Energy was founded in 2012 in Santa Clara, California, by Colin Wessells, based on his PhD research at Stanford University.¹⁸¹⁴ The company developed sodium-ion batteries using Prussian blue electrodes, targeting applications like data centers, telecom, and industrial backup power.¹⁸¹⁴ Natron's batteries offered fast charging, long cycle life, and safety, but had lower energy density than lithium-ion batteries.¹⁸ Over its lifetime, Natron raised more than $360 million from investors.¹²⁸⁹¹⁴ In 2020, Natron achieved UL 1973 certification for its batteries, which was critical for commercial deployment.¹³¹⁴

In April 2024, Natron began commercial-scale production at its Holland, Michigan facility, the first commercial-scale sodium-ion battery manufacturing in the U.S.²¹⁰¹⁴ In August 2024, Natron announced plans to build a $1.4 billion gigafactory in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, with a planned capacity of 24 GWh per year.^2891014 The North Carolina facility was expected to create over 1,000 jobs.¹²⁹¹⁴ Natron had booked orders worth $25 million, but could not deliver them due to delays in UL certification.¹²⁸¹⁴ In June 2025, The Information reported that Natron was running out of cash and investors had frozen scheduled payments.¹²⁸

Throughout the summer of 2025, Natron explored various funding options, including follow-on investments, a Series B equity raise, and convertible notes, but all failed.²⁸ On August 27, 2025, Natron's board determined that efforts to raise sufficient new funding were unsuccessful.²¹⁴ On August 28, 2025, Natron submitted a WARN notice to the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, indicating permanent layoffs.²⁸ On September 3, 2025, Natron ceased operations and laid off 95 employees.²⁴⁷¹⁴ The company's chief commercial officer, John Schmidt, informed staff that a small team would be retained to shut down the company safely.²

Natron's largest shareholder, Sherwood Partners, planned to sell the company's assets through an assignment for the benefit of creditors.²¹⁴ The Michigan facility, which had been operational for less than six months, was permanently closed.²¹⁴ The North Carolina gigafactory project was canceled.¹²⁷¹⁴ Analysts cited lithium price declines, certification delays, and competition from LFP batteries as factors in Natron's failure.¹⁶⁸¹⁴ The company's failure was seen as a setback for U.S. sodium-ion battery manufacturing, but not necessarily a death knell for the technology.⁶⁸

Natron's closure left 95 employees without jobs, and the company did not deliver on its $25 million in booked orders.²¹⁴ A lawsuit was filed against Natron by Dimerco Express (U.S.A.) Corp. on August 15, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.¹⁵

Legal outcomes

• filedDimerco Express (U.S.A.) Corp. filed a lawsuit against Natron Energy, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on August 15, 2025.¹⁵

Lessons, as others put them

"Western companies should walk first before running. One factory at a time."Christopher Chico, author of The Battery Chronicle¹

"Don’t let this headline conclude that battery manufacturing in the United States will never work, or that sodium-ion itself is uncompetitive. I think both those statements are naive and lack technological nuance."Adrian Yao, founder of EnPower and PhD student at Stanford⁸

Sources

1. Natron Energy is out. The lesson Western startups keep ignoring, christopherchico.substack.com, 1 year ago
2. Facing liquidity problems, sodium-ion startup Natron Energy closes its doors, Latitude Media, 2025-09-05
4. Natron Energy's Closure Sparks Industry Reflection, IEEE Spectrum, 2025-10-06
5. Natron Energy: Funding, Team & Investors, Startup Intros, Jul 13, 20
6. 'The bar is going up and up': Sodium-ion firm Natron Energy's closure highlights alternative chemistry challenges, Energy-Storage.News, 2025-09-11
7. LFP vs. Sodium-Ion Home Battery: Why LFP Wins in 2026 (And What the Natron Collapse Tells You About the Wait), Kora, 2026-06-19
8. If Natron Couldn’t Make Batteries in the U.S., Can Anyone?, Heatmap News, 2025-09-25
9. Natron Energy Funding, Investors & Competitors | Multiples, multiples.vc, Sep 18, 20
10. Natron Energy IPO Timeline and Financing Details - Forge, forgeglobal.com
13. Natron Energy Raises $35 Million in Series D Financing to Expand Sodium-Ion Battery Commercialization, nasdaq.com, Jul 8, 202
14. Natron Energy: The Rise and Fall of America's Sodium-Ion Pioneer, avanzaenergy.substack.com, 1 year ago
15. Dimerco Express (U.S.A.) Corp. v. Natron Energy, Inc., dockets.justia.com

How this case file was put together

Every statement on this page carries a numbered note, and every note points to a court record, a regulatory filing or a named publication in the list of sources. Each statement was checked against the text of the sources it cites before it was published: a figure, a date or a name the cited source does not contain was cut rather than kept. Allegations are shown as allegations, with their status at the time of the source (filed, charged, convicted, pleaded, settled, dismissed or pending). Quoted lessons are the words of the person or publication named with them, copied from the cited source; nothing here is our own opinion of why the company failed.

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