# Duranium

> Duranium is a Y Combinator (S25) advanced-materials company reshoring U.S. production of critical metals - titanium, magnesium, aluminum, zirconium and hafnium. It modernizes carbochlorination metallurgy with a novel reactor that recirculates CO and chlorine streams back into feedstock and spins off a saleable co-product (bleaching agents/hypochlorite), aiming to match Chinese-level pricing without subsidies while eliminating direct emissions. Founded in 2025 by CEO Brenden Prins-McKinney and CTO Berkley Noble, the company targets a pilot facility by June 2026 and roughly 12% of the U.S. magnesium market by 2029.

- **Founded:** 2025
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founders:** Brenden Prins-McKinney (Co-founder & CEO), Berkley Noble (Co-founder & CTO)
- **Team size:** ~10-11 employees
- **Products:** Closed-loop carbochlorination reactor, Domestic critical metals, Co-product chemicals
- **Notable:** Accepted into Y Combinator's Summer 2025 (S25) batch., Proved the process at benchtop scale., CTO Berkley Noble built the only U.S. pilot magnesium electrolyzer in the last 20+ years and holds a patent for an electrochemical metal cell.

## Products & services

- **Closed-loop carbochlorination reactor** — A modernized carbochlorination reactor that converts metal oxides into chlorides and recirculates its CO and Cl2 streams back into feedstock rather than venting them, eliminating direct emissions while cutting production cost.
- **Domestic critical metals** — Titanium, magnesium, aluminum, zirconium and hafnium produced in the U.S. for aerospace, defense and advanced-technology customers.
- **Co-product chemicals** — Saleable bleaching agents (hypochlorite) generated as a byproduct of the process, which subsidize the metal economics and help achieve cost parity with Chinese producers.

## Achievements

- Accepted into Y Combinator's Summer 2025 (S25) batch.
- Proved the process at benchtop scale.
- CTO Berkley Noble built the only U.S. pilot magnesium electrolyzer in the last 20+ years and holds a patent for an electrochemical metal cell.
- Targeting a pilot facility operational by June 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2025-08** — Joined Y Combinator's S25 batch; reported seed funding of ~$130K.
- **2025-09** — Featured among Y Combinator's launches of the week (Menlo Times, Sept 2025).
- **2026-06** — Targeted date for first pilot facility to become operational.

## Links

- Website: https://duranium.co
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/duraniumlabs

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/duranium-yc-s25
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-06