Natrion makes the film inside a lithium battery, the separator between plus and minus, and makes it in Buffalo, New York rather than China. It came to Pairs in April 2025 with a lead in place and blue-chip investors already wired into its Seed 2. Money was not the gap. Alex Kosyakov, Natrion's co-founder, could road-trip the Bay Area and fill a week with meetings. What he could not do was get in front of the family offices, funds and corporate investors in Europe and the Middle East, where some of Natrion's most important customers are.
The round was not the problem.
A lead, blue-chip names, momentum. What the cap table did not have was anyone from the markets Natrion sells into.
The right investors were not in the Bay Area.
Some of Natrion's most important customers are in Europe and the Middle East. So are the family offices and corporate investors who know those markets. Natrion had not been talking to any of them.
Deep tech runs on long cycles.
OEM sales cycles run 12 to 18 months. Alex did not want to be over-indexed on one market or one group of investors two years out.
“Some of our most important customers are there, and those are markets we're actively developing. We just hadn't been talking to the right people.”
Alex Kosyakov, Co-founder, Natrion
Pairs came in in April 2025 and the meetings ran through the following weeks and months. The first step is shorter now. Onboarding on the Pairs platform takes a few minutes and loses none of the depth, and first introductions are booked within 24 to 48 hours of completing it.
1
Target the geography and the fit.
Family offices, funds, strategics and large-check angels in the US, Europe and the Middle East. Each week Pairs named the categories it would go after next. Alex confirmed or redirected.
2
Brief the investor before the call.
Every introduction arrived warmed up and knowing what Natrion is. The first call skipped the explaining and went to fit, stage and timing.
3
Push every conversation to an answer.
More than 20 of them. When an investor passed, Alex asked why, and the name stayed in his monthly update.
“We were looking for something specific, which was exposure to investors that we wouldn't have otherwise. Your organization fit neatly into that missing puzzle piece.”
Alex Kosyakov, Co-founder, Natrion
Over the following months Alex met more than 20 investors he could not have reached on his own: family offices, funds, corporate investors and large-check angels across the US, Europe and the Middle East. Many sit in the markets Natrion is building into. Alex sells to other companies, and some of those investors hold portfolios full of them. The conversations produced customer introductions along the way.
Alex treats a raise as something that never fully stops. A fifth of his time goes to investors whether or not a round is open, and a monthly update goes out with the wins, the misses and the asks. The names Pairs put in front of him go into that loop. That is how he wants investors to arrive at Natrion's Series A: already familiar with the business and the markets it is growing into.
RELATIONSHIP IN NUMBERS
Client since
April 2025
Round
Seed 2
Investors met
20+
Investor types
Family offices, funds, strategics, large-check angels
Geographies
US, Europe, Middle East
Strategic alignment
Investors in the markets and portfolios Natrion sells into
Time to first introduction
24 to 48 hours after onboarding, on the current platform
Customer introductions
Yes, from the network in target regions
The round is not the reason to take the meeting.
The relationship is. Alex takes investor meetings whether or not there is a round, because the fit that is wrong today is right in six or twelve months.
Raise where your customers are.
Natrion's most important customers are in Europe and the Middle East. So are the investors who can put it in front of more of them.
A briefed investor asks better questions.
An introduction that arrives warmed up skips the explaining. The first call goes to fit, stage and timing, the three things that decide a second call.
Get to the no.
A fast no is worth more than a slow maybe. Ask why, fix what can be fixed, and keep the name.
Twenty percent, every month.
Alex spends a fifth of his time on investors, round or no round. Not a few months blocked off. Month after month.
Send the update. Include the asks.
A monthly note: what happened, what went well, what you need. Investors reply to asks. The travel schedule goes in too, because coffee still beats a call.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pairs introduced Natrion to more than 20 investors it could not reach on its own: family offices, funds, strategics and large-check angels across the US, Europe and the Middle East, chosen for the markets Natrion sells into. Every introduction was briefed before the first call, and Pairs and Alex spoke weekly about which categories to go after next. Some of those conversations produced customer introductions.
Natrion's OEM sales cycles run 12 to 18 months, and Alex does not want to be over-indexed on any one market or any one group of investors two years from now. Meeting investors in Europe and the Middle East now means the Series A starts with people who already know the business and the markets it is building into.
A list gives you names. These investors arrived knowing what Natrion is and with the questions they needed answered to call it a fit. That is a different first call, and a faster yes or no.
No. Natrion came to Pairs with a lead and blue-chip investors already wired in, and ran its own process throughout. Pairs adds the rooms a company cannot get into on its own and the introduction that arrives briefed. What happens in the room is the founder's.
Family offices, funds, corporate venture arms and large-check angels. For Natrion, the ones that mattered were in Europe and the Middle East, where its most important customers are, and strategics whose portfolios are full of the companies Natrion sells to.
Natrion started in April 2025 and the meetings ran through the following weeks and months. That was before the platform. Onboarding on Pairs now takes a few minutes, at the same depth, and first introductions are booked within 24 to 48 hours of completing it.
The relationships keep going. Alex sends a monthly update with the wins, the misses and the asks, shares his travel schedule so calls turn into coffees, and keeps a fifth of his time on investors. The names from this process are in that loop, so the Series A starts with investors who already know the business.
