Czech chemicals group Draslovka buys the sodium-ion battery IP of failed US startup Natron Energy
The deal covers patents, trademarks and know-how only. Draslovka wants to pair it with cathode production at Kolín and its partnership with Sweden's Altris.
Draslovka, a privately held Czech chemicals company, announced on Thursday 29 October that its US subsidiary Covoro Mining Solutions has agreed to acquire the intellectual property portfolio in Prussian Blue Analogue (PBA) and Prussian White Analogue (PWA) sodium-ion battery technology originally developed by Natron Energy. No price was disclosed.
The agreement covers intellectual property and intangible assets only. It was reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which granted clearance as a condition to closing, according to the company.
What is being bought
According to the announcement, the portfolio covers the whole technology stack: active material synthesis, electrodes, electrolytes, cell design and manufacturing, and complete battery systems. It includes issued and pending patents, trademarks and manufacturing know-how, with protection extending into the mid-2040s. Covoro, which operates Draslovka's sodium cyanide plant in Memphis, Tennessee, will hold the IP in the United States.
Natron Energy, a Stanford University spin-off based in California, ceased operations on 3 September 2025 after its board concluded that efforts to raise new funding had failed, ESS News reported at the time. A year earlier it had announced plans for a sodium-ion gigafactory in North Carolina with an investment of nearly $1.4 billion.
Why a cyanide producer wants battery patents
Draslovka is the world's largest producer of sodium cyanide, a chemical used to extract gold and silver from ore, Canadian Mining Journal reported. Prussian Blue and Prussian White materials are made from ferrocyanide chemistry, which Draslovka already produces at industrial scale.
The company says Europe's first industrial-scale Prussian White cathode line is starting up at Kolín in the Czech Republic, in partnership with Sweden's Altris, in which Draslovka is a strategic shareholder. Altris works with Clarios on serial production of low-voltage sodium-ion systems. Altris is also backed by Volvo Cars Tech Fund, Maersk Growth, InnoEnergy and Molindo, according to the release.
"The missing piece of the Western battery value chain has been the materials, and that piece now sits fully within Draslovka Group," said CEO Pavel Brůžek. He said Draslovka now holds the IP for the technology, including the finished product and access to the US market, and "will scale it with the partners who are ready to move at our pace".
Where the technology fits
Draslovka says PBA and PWA batteries do not need lithium, cobalt, nickel or graphite, are not subject to thermal runaway, can charge and discharge in seconds and last tens of thousands of cycles across a wide temperature range. The company says sodium-ion complements rather than competes with lithium, which is optimised for energy density, so it targets uses where safety, power and cycle life matter most.
Jackson Briggs, Strategy and Business Development Manager at Covoro, named data centres, grid storage, industrial fleets, telecoms, rail and aviation as target applications. The company says it plans to build cell and system manufacturing with selected partners, possibly through materials supply, licensing and co-located manufacturing, in both Europe and the United States.
Context: sodium-ion beyond lithium
Sodium-ion is one area where European and American companies hope to reduce their dependence on supply chains for lithium, nickel and graphite. Draslovka argues that its chemistry can be built entirely on inputs available in Europe and the US, and contrasts it with the layered-oxide and polyanionic sodium-ion chemistries that it says are largely used by Asian manufacturers.
Draslovka points to fast-growing demand from data centres and AI infrastructure, as well as grid storage. GE Vernova's planned acquisition of Trench Group this week is another sign of how much capital is flowing into grid equipment.
What it means for founders and investors
For deep-tech founders, the deal is a reminder that IP can outlive the company that created it. Natron's patents were bought by a strategic buyer with the chemistry and production base to use them. Investors in hardware startups should think early about who would value the IP if the business itself fails.
For battery startups in Europe, Draslovka's plan to license technology and co-locate manufacturing could create partnership opportunities in cell design, battery management software and system integration. Founders building for data centre, telecom or rail backup power may gain a European source of sodium-ion cells.
Investors in industrial and energy technology, such as AP Ventures, which closed a $300 million fund this week, are watching for companies that can show real production and customer demand rather than lab results alone.
What to watch
Watch for the closing of the deal, the first licensing or manufacturing partners named by Draslovka, and output figures from the Kolín cathode line.
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