# Brendan Smith

> Brendan Smith is the co-founder and CEO of SiTration, an MIT spinout commercializing a tunable silicon membrane that recovers critical metals like copper, cobalt, nickel and lithium from mining waste and spent batteries without the mountains of chemicals the old way demands. A materials scientist who came to MIT from Canada in 2013, he turned a desalination-lab discovery into a venture-backed company that has raised roughly $14.4 million and partnered with mining giant Rio Tinto. He runs the company from a 11,000-square-foot pilot facility in Watertown, Massachusetts.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at SiTration, Inc.
- **Organizations:** SiTration, Inc., MIT, The Engine, Greentown Labs
- **Nationality:** Canadian
- **Education:** B.A.Sc. in Nanotechnology Engineering, University of Waterloo, Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- **Known for:** Co-invented and patented a tunable porous-silicon membrane for critical materials recovery at MIT., Founded and scaled SiTration to roughly 29 employees, raising approximately $14.4M in venture capital., Secured a development partnership with Rio Tinto, one of the world's largest mining companies.

## Career timeline

- **2013** — Moves from Canada to MIT to pursue a PhD; joins Professor Jeffrey Grossman's group and becomes interested in separation technology.
- **2018** — Earns PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from MIT, followed by a postdoctoral appointment.
- **2020** — Founds SiTration to commercialize silicon membrane technology co-invented at MIT.
- **2022** — Raises $2.35M pre-seed led by Azolla Ventures, initially aimed at lithium-ion battery recycling.
- **2023** — Signs first major partnership with mining giant Rio Tinto to recover metals from mine wastewater (June).
- **2024** — Closes $11.8M seed round led by 2150, with BHP Ventures, Extantia and Orion Industrial Ventures (June).
- **2025** — Opens 11,000 sq ft R&D and pilot facility in Watertown, MA (April).

## Achievements

- Co-invented and patented a tunable porous-silicon membrane for critical materials recovery at MIT.
- Founded and scaled SiTration to roughly 29 employees, raising approximately $14.4M in venture capital.
- Secured a development partnership with Rio Tinto, one of the world's largest mining companies.
- Attracted strategic investment from BHP Ventures and climate funds 2150, Extantia, Orion and Azolla.
- Built a chemical-free, electrified extraction process the company says uses up to 10x less energy and half the water at half the cost.

## Latest updates

- **2024-06** — Closed $11.8M seed round led by 2150 with BHP Ventures, Extantia and Orion Industrial Ventures.
- **2025-04** — Opened an 11,000 sq ft R&D and pilot facility in Watertown, MA to build larger pilot systems.

## Links

- Website: https://sitration.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/brendansmith2

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/brendan-smith
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Last updated: 2026-06-25