DETROIT, Oct. 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Mana Battery, Inc., a Colorado-based developer of high-energy, anode-free sodium-ion battery technology, today announced that it has received the Battery Innovation of the Year award at The Battery Show North America 2026, held October 12–15 in Detroit. The Battery Awards, presented live at the show and judged by members of its conference advisory board, recognize innovation, excellence and leadership across the battery and electric vehicle industry.
The award recognizes Mana Battery’s anode-free sodium ion battery cell and enabling liquid electrolyte technology: a proprietary cell architecture that is assembled without anode active material, with the sodium anode forming in place during charging. The design removes a costly component while delivering energy density beyond lithium iron phosphate (LFP). Sodium chemistry also relies on abundant, domestically available materials.
“This award is a result of years-long efforts across R&D, cell engineering, materials scaling, and commercial validation. Starting with work by Professor Chunmei Ban and Mana CTO Nick Singstock at CU Boulder, and now being carried forward by an incredible group of engineers, scientists, and operators at Mana, this award belongs to a team that set out to prove that sodium-ion can be denser, and safer, than the incumbent chemistries, not just cheaper,” said Tyler Evans, co-founder and CEO of Mana Battery. “Recognition by the industry at The Battery Show tells us the market is ready for what we are building.”
“Our liquid electrolyte is the foundation of everything we do,” said Nick Singstock, co-founder and CTO of Mana Battery. “It is what makes a stable, high-energy anode-free sodium cell possible, and it is designed from the molecule up to improve safety and performance.”
Mana is scaling its anode-free sodium-ion cell through partnership with established battery manufacturers. Along the way, Mana is selling sodium-ion electrolytes as a stand-alone product to battery manufacturers for sodium-ion cells with a hard carbon anode. The recognition follows a year of commercial and technical progress. In August 2026, Mana Battery signed a Joint Development Agreement with Saft, a TotalEnergies subsidiary, to co-develop and commercialize anode-free sodium-ion cells for defense and other markets. Since then, it has signed a second Joint Development Agreement with a global leader in the production of EV’s and ESS. Mana’s technology has been advanced through government-funded programs including grants from ARPA-E, the U.S. Army and the NSF. The company is sampling cells and electrolyte to multiple commercial partners, alongside 14 projects with customers including funded Material Transfer Agreements and Cell Testing Agreements.
About Mana Battery
Mana Battery, Inc. is a battery technology company based in Broomfield, Colorado, developing high-energy sodium-ion batteries on a proprietary electrolyte platform and anode-free cell architecture. Founded in 2023 as a spin-out of the University of Colorado Boulder, the company targets defense, grid energy storage, data center and electric vehicle applications with batteries that pair safe liquid electrolyte with a supply chain free of critical-mineral constraints. Learn more at manabattery.us.
Media Contact
Sam Jaffe · VP, Business Development and Product, Mana Battery, Inc. · sam@manabattery.us · +1 (303) 502-4001
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