US sodium-ion battery programmer raises $35M as storage space financial investment surges

• Start-up Natron Energy is constructing a battery using Prussian blue analogue electrodes and also a sodium-ion electrolyte. Capitalists include ABB Technology Ventures, NanoDimension Capital, Volta Energy Technologies, Chevron, Khosla Ventures, and also Prelude Ventures.

Natron Energy, a California-based startup creating a battery using Prussian blue analogue electrodes as well as a sodium-ion electrolyte, has actually raised $35 million in collection D funding round led by ABB Technology Ventures, NanoDimension Capital as well as Volta Energy Technologies.

Return backers Chevron Technology Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and Prelude Ventures also participated. Fluxus Ventures has actually likewise invested in the firm, which has actually received greater than $50 million in venture funding and also greater than $5 million in Advanced Research Projects Agency-- Energy (ARPA-E) and United States Department of Energy funding.

Natron Energy is the previous Alveo, which was founded in 2012, based upon work within the Huggins Group by founder Dr. Colin Wessells at Stanford University. Although Prussian blue provides small energy thickness, the start-up asserts it is so earth-available and also economical that it might offer an economical as well as lasting answer for stationary energy storage space.

According to its site, Natron is establishing batteries for "data-center UPS, electrical forklifts, wise grids/microgrids, and renewables assistance. Natron's batteries endure tens of thousands of deep discharge cycles, can be totally billed or released in simply mins, and also price substantially less than incumbent lead acid batteries."

From that summary, it shows up that Natron is pursuing lead-acid battery side situations.

Or else, Natron will be competing with the incumbent fixed power storage technology-- lithium ion UNITED STATE energy storage deployments reached roughly 500 MW in 2019-- of which only a few megawatts were non-lithium-ion chemistries. Lithium-ion batteries have their negative aspects-- high sensitivity, problem minerals as well as environmental danger-- yet they are the well-defined leading winner in today's battery race.

Removing lithium ion.

Investors appear amazed by power storage space this year-- the long-duration selection in particular. Within the last few months, we've seen these energy storage investments.

• Eos Energy Storage with its four- to six-hour duration zinc battery chemistry introduced its purpose to go public through a SPAC. Eos has actually spent greater than $160 million from capitalists such as AltEnergy, Holtec International, Reservoir Capital Group, as well as Generation Capital.
• Type Energy declares its aqueous air battery supplies 150-hour period storage space. Form Energy intends on deploying a 1 MW/150 MWh system with a Minnesota energy before 2023, an unmatched energy storage period if effective. Kind Energy has raised more than $50 million in financing from financiers Eni Next, MIT's The Engine, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Prelude Ventures, Capricorn Investment Group, and also Macquarie Capital.
• Quidnet wants to use "excess" renewable energy to save pressurized-water under ground at completely dry oil and gas wells. Costs Gates led a $10M financial investment in the startup.
• QuantumScape, a solid-state lithium ion battery building contractor, received up to $200 million from Volkswagen earlier this month. Other investors in QuantumScape consist of Kleiner Perkins, Prelude Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Capricorn Investment Group, as well as Khosla Ventures.

In spite of the leading investors and also rock-star business owners at QuantumScape as well as Eos, it's a testimony to the difficulty of creating a brand-new battery innovation that it has taken more than a decade to bring these products to the side of commercial production.

Natron is working with.