EnterpriseWorks Startup Natrion Secures $2 Million in Funding from Major Backers

Natrion, a battery research and development startup based in Research Park’s EnterpriseWorks incubator, announced Wednesday that they have secured $2 million in seed funding. Natrion is the only company in the world to commercialize a ceramic-polymer composite battery solution for electric mobility and defense applications.

The funding round was led by Chicago-based TechNexus Venture Collaborative, Champaign’s Illinois Ventures, Mark Cuban of Shark Tank, and other private investors. Natrion has previously received significant funding from the U.S. Department of Defense including a STTR grant to develop its products.

“Natrion’s streamlined R&D approach and business model are what really differentiate the company in the battery market. They’ve already secured major commercial traction in the automotive space and we’re looking forward to what they achieve next,” said Mark Cuban.

This seed round was the company’s first major private capital raise, and with it Natrion plans to build out in-house pouch cell prototyping capabilities at its R&D center in EnterpriseWorks to allow rapid-prototyping and validation of their patented Lithium Solid Ionic Composite (LSIC). This is Natrion’s first step towards scaling up and provides potential to build out a pilot production line next year.

Natrion was founded in 2018 by Alex Kosyakov, a University of Illinois undergraduate engineering student. Before founding the startup, Kosyakov was part of iVenture Accelerator and Hacking for Defense. In the past, Natrion has been awarded funding from Cozad Assessment Management and Illinois Ventures, as well as being granted SBIR funding with help from the Illinois Fast Center.

Read the full news release here.