Key Takeaways
- • Mana Battery, a Broomfield, Colo.-based startup, raised $10.15 million in seed financing to develop an anode-free sodium-ion battery, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- • The company's cell design uses no anode active material and substitutes sodium for lithium, aiming to reduce materials costs and reduce U.S. dependence on Chinese battery supply chains.
- • Mana plans to partner with manufacturers on its anode-free sodium-ion cell technology and sell a proprietary electrolyte.
- • One publisher-context report describes the funding as a convertible note, a detail that is not confirmed in the primary article.
Summary
Broomfield, Colo.-based Mana Battery has raised $10.15 million in seed financing to develop anode-free sodium-ion battery technology, according to a Wall Street Journal exclusive. The company is positioning itself as a technology partner for battery manufacturers rather than solely as a cell producer, and it plans to sell a proprietary electrolyte alongside its cell design.
Cofounder and chief executive Tyler Evans began the project four years ago with the goal of building a battery with the lowest possible materials costs. That effort was motivated in part by a surge in prices for lithium and other components. The resulting design eliminates the anode active material and substitutes sodium, the element found in ordinary table salt, for lithium.
The company's strategic rationale extends beyond cost. Evans hopes the technology can help the United States reduce its dependence on China for batteries and the materials used to make them. Industry context cited in publisher materials notes that most sodium-based batteries are currently manufactured in China and represent less than 1% of batteries delivered this year, and that China holds roughly 30 times the sodium-ion manufacturing capacity of the U.S.
Several other publisher-context items reference the same round, including one describing the financing as a convertible note. Comparable early-stage sodium-ion ventures, such as Natron Energy and Austria's SALZSTROM, have also raised capital in recent periods, placing Mana within a growing field of domestic and European sodium-battery developers.
Cofounder and chief executive Tyler Evans began the project four years ago with the goal of building a battery with the lowest possible materials costs. That effort was motivated in part by a surge in prices for lithium and other components. The resulting design eliminates the anode active material and substitutes sodium, the element found in ordinary table salt, for lithium.
The company's strategic rationale extends beyond cost. Evans hopes the technology can help the United States reduce its dependence on China for batteries and the materials used to make them. Industry context cited in publisher materials notes that most sodium-based batteries are currently manufactured in China and represent less than 1% of batteries delivered this year, and that China holds roughly 30 times the sodium-ion manufacturing capacity of the U.S.
Several other publisher-context items reference the same round, including one describing the financing as a convertible note. Comparable early-stage sodium-ion ventures, such as Natron Energy and Austria's SALZSTROM, have also raised capital in recent periods, placing Mana within a growing field of domestic and European sodium-battery developers.
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