Liquid metal startup Ambri back in business after Chapter 11 bankruptcy

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

Ambri, the MIT-spinoff commercialising a liquid metal battery for stationary storage applications, looks set for a fresh start.

The Massachusetts-headquartered company said earlier this week (31 July) that the sale of its assets has been closed, bought by a consortium of Ambri’s existing lenders, which has also contributed additional capital.

Ambri had entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in early May. It said at the time that an agreement for lenders to buy up assets was already in place.  

The company, founded by MIT professor Donald Sadoway in 2010, makes high-temperature batteries based around liquid calcium anodes and molten salt electrolyte, while the cathode materials contain solid antimony particles.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Ambri has claimed that its raw materials are abundant and low-cost, while the technology is suitable for providing long-duration energy storage (LDES).

It has been able to attract some big name backers to date, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ Gates Frontier venture capital (VC) fund, and India’s Reliance Industries. A pilot deployment at a Microsoft data centre was commissioned in 2022, and in the same year, a pilot project with Reliance was announced.

Other key developments for the company included plans for a pilot project with utility Xcel Energy in Colorado, US, of which details were provided around a year ago and on which construction was expected to begin this year.

Ambri’s systems received UL1973 certification in 2022 and the company signed a deal in Q3 2021 for 13GWh of key materials supply with an investor in a successfully closed US$144 million funding round.  

The company said this week that a competitive sale process was conducted in accordance with Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, after its board decided that the sale would be the best avenue to recapitalise the company and secure its future.

Sadoway’s co-founder and co-inventor of the proprietary liquid metal battery, Dr David Bradwell, will assume the position of CEO, having been CTO since Ambri was launched, while Prof Sadoway remains Chief Scientific Advisor.

“The team at Ambri has continued to make impressive progress towards a commercial long-duration battery system, including developing our third-generation cell product. We look forward to offering our unique, safe, and low-cost commercial product to our customers at scale, to meet the strong customer demand for our battery systems, and for a cleaner energy future,” new CEO Bradwell said.

“As we embark on this fresh start with a stronger balance sheet and new capital, we are focused on positioning Ambri to play a leading role in the long duration energy storage market for the benefit of our stakeholders.”

Read Next

September 18, 2025
Chang Jae Won of the Korea Smart Grid Association believes companies lack a model for recovering their investment in DC energy storage.
September 18, 2025
Hydrostor has secured US$55 million in funding from Export Development Canada (EDC) to advance development activities for its 200MW/1,600MWh Silver City Energy Storage Centre project in Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia.
Premium
September 17, 2025
Investor-owned utility (IOU) Entergy is seeking regulatory approval from the Arkansas Public Service Commission (PSC) to construct what could become the largest BESS in the southern US State. It will support a data centre from Google.
September 15, 2025
Hithium will supply battery storage and SMA the power conversion systems for a 500MWh grid-forming project in Australia for Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV).
September 12, 2025
Dutch BESS operator Return has acquired four ready-to-build (RTB) projects in Germany, while agrifood tech and renewables investor N2OFF has added BESS to a solar project it is developing there.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter