Duranium

What do they actually do

Duranium is a 4‑person YC S25 startup designing and building a pilot plant in Alameda, CA to produce light and specialty metals (they name titanium, magnesium, aluminum, zirconium and hafnium) in the U.S. Their route uses chlorination to make metal salts, then molten‑salt electrochemical cells to reduce those salts to metal, with a plan to convert process byproducts into saleable co‑products. The team targets Q2 2026 for pilot operations and is hiring to complete the build (WorkAtAStartup, YC listing).

They are pre‑revenue and focused on pilot development/validation (materials quality, yields, coproduct conversion, and economics) before commercializing. Public materials highlight the CTO’s prior molten‑salt electrolysis work, including a U.S. pilot magnesium electrolyzer, as the technical base they’re iterating on now; the company has raised a pre‑seed round and expects additional capital to scale after the pilot (WorkAtAStartup, YC listing, Crunchbase).

Who are their target customer(s)

• Aerospace OEMs and tier suppliers: Large, recurring needs for titanium, aluminum and magnesium face long lead times, price swings, and strict qualification/traceability that make inconsistent or foreign‑concentrated supply risky (YC listing, WorkAtAStartup).
• Defense primes and government contractors: Must meet domestic‑sourcing and traceability requirements; reliance on geopolitically concentrated producers creates supply risk for regulated components (YC listing).
• Semiconductor and nuclear component manufacturers: Require very pure zirconium/hafnium with tight impurity limits; few qualified suppliers and long re‑qualification cycles make switching sources difficult (WorkAtAStartup).
• Automotive and EV OEMs / lightweighting suppliers: Need reliable aluminum/magnesium supply, lower embedded carbon, and predictable domestic volumes to hit production plans; overseas volatility disrupts schedules.
• Metal distributors, alloy makers, specialty fabricators: Depend on steady bulk volumes with consistent chemistry and predictable byproduct handling; variability or delays force costly inventory buffers and downtime (WorkAtAStartup).

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Sign up 4–6 pilot partners (tier‑1 aerospace, one or two defense primes, a specialty distributor, a semiconductor component shop) for paid qualification lots from the Alameda pilot under NDA with full certs and joint test plans; use co‑funded or discounted runs to secure initial POs and reference data (YC listing; WorkAtAStartup).
• First 50: Convert pilot data and early partner reports into concise qualification packs and run turnkey sample programs; target adjacent OEMs/tier‑2s and distributors via procurement channels, focused trade shows, and warm intros from pilot partners; hire a sales engineer to manage technical qualification cycles (YC listing; WorkAtAStartup; Crunchbase).
• First 100: Scale through (1) national distributor agreements, (2) multi‑year offtake/MOUs with 5–10 large OEMs/defense contractors using pilot performance as proof, and (3) government/defense procurement and grants to underwrite first commercial capacity; standardize QA/traceability and pricing tiers for repeatable onboarding (YC listing; WorkAtAStartup).

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

Global spend across the targeted critical metals is on the order of $10–11B annually when combining titanium metal (~$2.7B in 2025), magnesium metal (~$5.4B in 2024), zirconium (~$2.1B in 2024) and hafnium (~$0.36B in 2024) (TowardsChem, Market.us, IMARC, SkyQuest). Given U.S. reshoring needs in aerospace/defense/semiconductor, the domestic serviceable slice is a meaningful fraction of that total.

Bottom-up calculation:

Illustratively, a first commercial site producing ~20 kt/yr Mg, ~5 kt/yr Ti, and ~1 kt/yr Zr/Hf at blended realized prices of ~$3k–$5k/ton (Mg), ~$15k–$25k/ton (Ti), and ~$25k–$40k/ton (Zr/Hf) would generate roughly $120–$260M per plant per year. Replicating 5 plants aimed at U.S. aerospace/defense/semiconductor demand implies ~$0.6–$1.3B of obtainable revenue, a subset of the broader $10B+ global market.

Assumptions:

• Focus TAM excludes aluminum to stay conservative; includes titanium, magnesium, zirconium, hafnium only.
• Illustrative first‑plant mix: 20 kt Mg, 5 kt Ti, 1 kt Zr/Hf; actual mix will depend on customer offtake and qualification timelines.
• Price bands reflect recent industry ranges for primary metals; figures are for directional sizing, not quotes.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• TIMET (Titanium Metals Corporation): Large U.S. titanium producer with established capacity, certifications, and deep aerospace relationships—an incumbent Duranium would need to displace for titanium mill products.
• VSMPO‑AVISMA: World’s largest titanium producer and long‑time supplier to major airframers; historically Boeing’s largest titanium supplier under long‑term agreements, highlighting the scale and incumbency Duranium is up against (Boeing press release).
• Metalysis: Commercializing electrochemical routes (incl. Ti powders) for aerospace and additive manufacturing—overlaps on technology approach and end‑use buyers.
• Magrathea Metals: U.S. startup building magnesium electrolyzers from seawater to supply domestic Mg; direct overlap on magnesium product and “domestic, lower‑carbon” positioning.
• Boston Metal: Scaling molten‑oxide electrolysis at industrial tonnage (starting with steel); while not focused on the same metals, they compete for partners, talent, and capital in electro‑metallurgy.