We are excited to announce our investment in SiTration.

Spun out from MIT, SiTration pioneered a low-cost, environmentally friendly process for recovering critical minerals from recycled lithium-ion batteries, primary mining streams, and mining-affected water. Their proprietary membrane-based electroextraction system selectively separates and recovers metals including cobalt, copper, nickel and more.        

This technology is essential to ensuring a just energy transition.

The green economy depends on a range of critical minerals—cobalt, nickel, lithium, graphite, copper, rare earths, etc.—tarnished with labor and environmental abuse. These metals make up the batteries, wind turbines, and clean energy infrastructure essential to climate adaptation and mitigation. Yet the externalities associated with their extraction range from child labor to toxic chemical exposure. These challenges persist despite concerted global efforts such as the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) and U.S. regulations like the Dodd-Frank Act.

Battery recycling offers a means of sourcing critical minerals without compounding human and environmental risks. By 2035, analysts estimate that recycled electric-vehicle (EV) batteries in the U.S. could meet up to 18% of cobalt demand and 17% of nickel demand. This represents a major opportunity to decouple growth from harmful extraction.

Legacy methods for battery recycling, however, rely on toxic chemicals and excessive energy-inputs. The two predominant methods are hydrometallurgy (“leaching”) and pyrometallurgy (“smelting”). The former dissolves batteries in vats of sulfuric acid and strong oxidants, while the latter smelts them at temperatures of up to 1,500 °C. Both routes generate hazardous byproducts, compounding environmental and health risks. And their resource-intensive nature drives operating costs in an industry highly sensitive to price volatility.

SiTration’s technology cuts chemical usage by +50% and operating expenditure by up to 70%.

The reduction in toxicity is as essential as the economic efficiencies. The ILO estimates that one million workers die annually from exposure to toxic chemicals. Another billion people face daily exposure. As a tsunami of EV batteries reach the end of their life, SiTration will ensure their recycling is cost effective, safe, and sustainable.

Working Capital Fund first met with Brendan Smith, CEO and founder, in January 2023. With a PhD and postdoctoral work in materials science and engineering at MIT, Brendan had just closed a pre-seed round led by Azolla Ventures. In the years since, we have been consistently impressed by his team’s ability to deliver commercial traction and technological progress.

We are excited to join the cap table alongside BHP, Orion Ventures, Azolla, E14, 2150vc, and others. We look forward to supporting SiTration as it advances responsible production of critical minerals.