A bioreactor-made material is being marketed as an animal-friendly leather alternative that also aims to help save the planet
The biotechnology industry is expanding into the fashion industry, with investors backing leather substitutes made from mushrooms, animal cells or recombinant collagen produced in yeast. On January 13, MycoWorks announced a $125 million round of funding that will finance a full-scale production plant in South Carolina to make a leather alternative from Ganoderma lucidum mycelium. This follows last year’s $7 million toward a funding round by VitroLabs, which grows hide from animal cell cultures.
VitroLabs, for instance, grows its product from cells. In their process, scientists coax undisclosed immortalized cell lines to grow in a nutrient-rich environment. With the help of scaffolds, the cells form tissue with the complexity of real animal hide without the need to slaughter animals.
In Arequipa, Peru, Le Qara ferments a consortium of native, undisclosed microorganisms to produce a biopolymer that it then formulates via an undisclosed process into a textile with properties similar to leather. The biomaterial can support the high temperatures and pressures that machines use to finish animal leather, says Jacqueline Cruz, co-founder of Le Qara.
In addition to the realistic feel and quality of the material, biotech leather companies also face the challenge of producing their textiles at scale, at a price that competes with animal leather. That’s not an easy matter for companies tinkering with the finicky biology of living things or cultured cells. Historically, biology in competition with fossil fuels has proved too challenging.
Modern Meadow plans to apply its plant-based polymer blend to a range of textiles, including leather-like ones. Last October, the company announced a joint collaboration with Italian textile maker Limonata following a $130 million round of venture financing.
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