iM3NY, an Endicott-based battery manufacturer with ties to New Energy New York, a University-led coalition, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Jan. 27.

The company was founded in 2017 by Shailesh Upreti, the chief executive of C4V, which operates iM3NY and whose mission was to build lithium-ion batteries as part of their commitment to renewable energy. C4V was established through the University’s Start-up Suite, an incubator under the Department of Research that provides offices and lab space to research start-ups.

iM3NY had a net operating cost of around $142.6 million through 2024 and owes at least $125 million to creditors, according to reporting from Bloomberg. The current CEO, Lukasz Cianciara, said that they had exhausted their finances in court filings, and the company did not respond to a Pipe Dream request for comment.

Upreti previously worked at BU as a postdoctoral fellow with M. Stanley Whittingham, a Nobel laureate and a distinguished professor of chemistry. The company secured $1.5 million of its funding through New Energy New York, which was created to strengthen industry in the Southern Tier through battery technology. New Energy New York received a federal Tech Hub designation in October 2023 for battery innovation. At the time, iM3NY and C4V were part of the New Energy New York consortium.

“We continue to build the capability to make batteries in America by Americans,” wrote Bahgat Sammakia, BU’s vice president for research at the University. “We acknowledge the struggles and challenges that face us, but we are making great progress. Our NENY initiatives and NSF Engine are strong and growing. Battery-NY will be the Hub of our activity based in our building at 10 University Boulevard in Johnson City. It will be a unique capability in the US opening in 2026.”

In a 2017 BingUNews article, the company was projected to bring 230 jobs to Endicott in their Huron campus facility, and in 2021, the Southern Tier Startup Alliance reported that the factory could “create direct employment opportunities for approximately 2,500 individuals.” According to a filing from Empire State Development in July 2023, 88 workers were employed at the time, and the minimum employment level for Jan. 1, 2025 was 232.

In October, the company faced a wave of layoffs with about 50 employees losing their jobs. Claims that the batteries produced in the factory were “swelling,” or unfit for distribution, negatively affecting their projected output, were dismissed by Upreti.

“When the facility was being commissioned, that part of the factory setup, we were having swelling challenges and this is a very common phenomenon in plants when you are setting up a new factory,” Upreti told WBNG at the time. “Things could go wrong.”

Australia-based Magnis Energy Technologies Ltd. was one of the first to invest in iM3NY in 2017 and held a 73 percent stake in the company as of 2023. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission is pursuing civil penalty procedures against Magnis based on claims that they allegedly failed to disclose the operation capabilities of iM3NY.

The filing alleges that Magnis was aware of the plant’s production setbacks — and the possibility that iM3NY could not generate the expected amount of revenue — and failed to accurately communicate this information with the Australian Securities Exchange, potentially harming shareholders in late 2022-23.

In a letter from Magnis in response to the query, they stated that their appointed board members were removed by a debt lender and subsequently resigned in December of 2023 and that they have received information “by making requests from, and relying on the goodwill of, the directors of Imperium 3,” since October 2024.

iM3NY is looking for buyers for their assets through Hilco Corporate Finance and is seeking court approval for a $2.5 million loan as of Jan. 29.