# SiTration, Inc.

> SiTration is a Cambridge, Massachusetts materials-recovery company spun out of MIT that uses a patented, ultra-durable porous silicon membrane paired with electro-extraction to pull critical metals - lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and precious metals - out of mining waste, spent lithium-ion batteries, and refining streams. By replacing chemical-heavy, acid-dissolution processes with a tunable, energy-efficient membrane, SiTration aims to make the recovery of the metals behind batteries, EV motors, wind turbines, and data centers cheaper and cleaner.

- **Founded:** 2020
- **Headquarters:** Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
- **Founders:** Brendan Smith (CEO & Co-founder), Jeffrey Grossman (Co-founder & Chief Scientist)
- **Team size:** ~29 employees (grown from a 9-person team reported in mid-2024)
- **Products:** Porous silicon membrane, Electro-extraction system, Critical materials recovery service
- **Notable:** Spun out of MIT's Department of Materials Science and Engineering in 2020., Raised $11.8M oversubscribed seed round in 2024 led by 2150., Secured a partnership with mining major Rio Tinto to recover cobalt and copper from wastewater.

## Products & services

- **Porous silicon membrane** — A patented, ultra-durable silicon membrane with a highly tunable pore structure - from the molecular scale up to the width of a human hair - and electrical conductivity, enabling selective separation of metals in harsh chemical environments.
- **Electro-extraction system** — An integrated process pairing the silicon filtration stage with an electro-extraction stage to recover critical metals directly, eliminating chemical inputs and simplifying conventional process flow sheets.
- **Critical materials recovery service** — Deployment of the membrane-plus-electro-extraction platform with commercial partners in mining and lithium-ion battery recycling to recover lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and precious metals from waste and secondary streams.

## Achievements

- Spun out of MIT's Department of Materials Science and Engineering in 2020.
- Raised $11.8M oversubscribed seed round in 2024 led by 2150.
- Secured a partnership with mining major Rio Tinto to recover cobalt and copper from wastewater.
- Developed a patented silicon membrane with pore sizes tunable from molecular scale to the width of a human hair.
- Attracted strategic investment from BHP Ventures and Orion Industrial Ventures.
- Total funding of approximately $17.6M across multiple rounds.

## Latest updates

- **2024-06** — Closed an $11.8M oversubscribed seed round led by 2150, with BHP Ventures, Extantia, Orion Industrial Ventures, Azolla Ventures, and the E14 Fund.
- **2024-07** — MIT News profiled SiTration and its silicon-membrane approach to critical materials extraction.
- **2023-06** — Announced partnership with Rio Tinto to recover cobalt and copper from mine wastewater.
- **2022-07** — Raised $2.35M pre-seed round led by Azolla Ventures to advance battery-recycling applications.

## Links

- Website: https://sitration.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/sitration-inc
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/sitration

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/sitration-inc
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Last updated: 2026-07-02