Why We Invested in Membrion
At Pangaea Ventures, we are dedicated to empowering breakthrough hard tech innovations that accelerate the shift toward a more sustainable industrial future. This commitment is exemplified by Pangaea’s participation in Membrion’s $20 Million Series B1 funding, alongside PureTerra, Lam Research, Ecolab, W.L. Gore & Associates., and other existing investors. Our investment in Membrion represents a convergence of advanced materials science, technical rigor, impact-driven innovation, and accelerating customer interest, the hallmarks of the companies we champion to drive planetary health.
Read on to learn in detail why we invested.
Opportunity
Water scarcity is among the defining planetary challenges of our time. As a vital and increasingly limited resource, fresh water is in short supply globally, creating urgent pressure to find sustainable solutions.
One of the most promising approaches lies in treating and reusing wastewater. An estimated 380 billion cubic meters of wastewater are generated each year, yet only 24 to 51 percent of this receives treatment. Within this challenge exists a significant opportunity. The wastewater treatment services market was valued at approximately $59 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow to $80 billion by 2030, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.3%.
This growth is primarily driven by increasingly stringent environmental regulations across key regions such as Asia and Europe, alongside mounting water scarcity challenges worldwide. Membrion’s technology is positioned to meet this rising demand by providing a robust and energy-efficient solution capable of treating some of the most difficult industrial waste streams, enabling sustainable resource recovery and regulatory compliance for industrial users globally.
While it’s true that venture capital hasn’t historically looked kindly at the water sector, our analysis has yielded a much different perspective. We see significant opportunity for innovation and impact within this market, a view that has guided our decision to invest in Membrion.
Tackling Industrial Water Treatment’s Toughest Challenges
Sustainable water management is a defining challenge across sectors, and nowhere is this more urgent than in advanced manufacturing industries, including semiconductors. Conventional reverse osmosis (RO) and polymeric ion-exchange membrane systems break down when faced with highly acidic, oxidizing, or metal-laden waste streams. As a result, many facilities resort to offsite trucking and disposal of wastewater, a costly and unsustainable practice. The technical limits of these often outsourced legacy systems translate directly into higher operating costs, increased freshwater consumption, and ultimately, constrained industrial growth.
The Membrion Solution: Electro-Ceramic Excellence
Membrion’s electro-ceramic desalination units are engineered to overcome these limits, and are highlighted by:
Chemical Robustness: Instead of organic polymers, Membrion uses porous ceramic supports actively infused with charged functional groups. This design enables the membrane to tolerate acidic pH levels (<2), high oxidation, and aggressive impurities that degrade traditional systems.
Selective Ion Removal: Membrion’s membranes achieve high selectivity and throughput, allowing the removal of problematic ions (like lithium or copper) even in complex, high total dissolved solids (TDS) environments commonly found in semiconductor fab wastewater.
Low Energy Consumption: Operating at lower pressures than RO, the system delivers energy efficiency and minimizes life cycle costs.
Simple Integration: The technology is “bolt-on” compatible with existing infrastructure, reducing upgrade friction and downtime.
Impact in the Semiconductor Industry
Solutions for treating complex, hard-to-treat wastewater are needed across metal plating, landfill leachate, acid scrubbing, mining, and more, all of which represent current or future industries of interest to Membrion. Of course, the semiconductor sector’s continuous drive toward higher yields and lower defect rates places enormous demands on ultrapure water and waste minimization. Membrion’s membranes have shown durability and high separation efficiency even after thousands of hours in harsh, high-metal-load streams typical of advanced chip manufacturing. This resilience allows fabs to reclaim valuable resources and reuse water, directly lowering their water costs and improving environmental, social, and governance profiles.
Why We Invested
Hard Tech Innovation at Its Core: Membrion’s patented electro-ceramic platform demonstrates the convergence of deep materials science and real-world industrial applicability: values at the heart of our investment thesis.
Scalable Market Opportunity: Growing water needs alongside increasing regulatory and environmental pressures in industries such as semicon, mining, and battery manufacturing create tailwinds for durable, adaptable membrane technologies that can deliver water treatment outcomes not otherwise possible.
Tangible Impact: With every deployment, Membrion helps major manufacturers reduce water intake, chemical waste, and energy usage. These represent not only sustainability outcomes, but key drivers of ROI embraced by leading investors.
Collaborative Growth: Our expanding experience within the semiconductor vertical uniquely positions us to add value as Membrion accelerates adoption in this high-growth sector through strategic partnerships, supply chain insights, and networking. Further to this, we value Membrion’s collaborative approach to strategic relationship building, highlighted by the inclusion of top tier co-investors in this funding round including PureTerra, Lam Research, Ecolab and W.L. Gore & Associates.
Enduring Partnership: Our eight-year relationship with Membrion’s CEO Greg Newbloom reflects Pangaea’s commitment to being a trusted, long-term partner dedicated to supporting our portfolio companies’ growth and success.
Looking Forward
Membrion exemplifies how advanced materials and technical ingenuity can reshape legacy industrial processes for the betterment of industry and the planet. We are proud to back a team aligned with our values of trust, curiosity, collaboration, and excellence. Together, we’re building a future where even the toughest wastewater streams become sources of resource recovery, efficiency, and environmental stewardship.