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Colin Wessells

CEO at Natron Energy - We are hiring!

Colin Wessells is the co-founder and CEO of Natron Energy, a company specializing in sodium-ion battery technology.14 He founded Natron Energy in his Palo Alto garage in 2012 while pursuing a graduate degree at Stanford University.34 Wessells has led Natron's sodium-ion battery product development from an early-stage chemistry concept to a UL-listed product deployed in industrial sites across the United States.4

Under Wessells' leadership, Natron Energy has become a global leader in sodium-ion battery technology, offering safe, high-power, long-lived battery products for industrial and grid applications.46 The company's innovative approach uses Prussian blue electrodes, which, when combined with sodium ions, creates a chemistry that delivers super-fast charging and power delivery.5

Wessells has achieved several notable accomplishments:

  1. Raised over $130 million in venture capital investments and government awards.4
  2. Served as principal investigator for two ARPA-E awards and six funded user proposals at the Molecular Foundry.4
  3. Authored over fifty peer-reviewed publications and issued patents.4
  4. Recognized in the TIME100 Climate List in 2024 for his innovative leadership in climate action.23

Wessells holds PhD, MS, and BS degrees in materials science and engineering from Stanford University.4 As of March 2025, he has transitioned to the role of Chief Technology and Product Officer, while Wendell Brooks has been appointed as the new CEO of Natron Energy.1

Highlights

Apr 29 · linkedin

Friends: After 12 years of company building, today we at Natron are proud to announce the opening of our first sodium-ion battery production facility in Holland, Michigan. This marks our first step towards a complete domestic minerals-to-systems supply chain for advanced batteries. If you are a customer who needs better batteries for advanced compute or grid power management, we at Natron have a solution for you. And if you are someone who cares about energy independence and creating high quality jobs in advanced technology manufacturing, we have a solution for you as well. Congratulations to our entire Natron team, ARPA-E, and ND Capital for reaching this amazing milestone. Our future is bright!

May 10 · linkedin

The world doesn't have enough lithium and sodium-ion batteries are part of the solution. Great to see Natron Energy and Faradion Limited featured as leaders in this space. #sodium #batteries #energystorage

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Location

Palo Alto, California, United States