The Marriage Between Biotechnology & Fashion: Million Dollar Business

The News of the Week: Adidas, Kering, Lululemon and Stella McCartney are for Vegan Leather

While the fashion industry is in search of sustainability, designers and scientists meet in the labs for creating biomaterial-based products in order to fight with the environmental pollution. With the help of biotechnology, today we can create sustainable fabrics and materials by imitating the nature and reprograming cells.
The lastest ‘bio-material trend’ in the sector is vegan leather.
Vegan leather is kind of bio-material that can be made out of mushroom, pineapple, cereal crops, cactus. Leading biotechnology company Bolt Threads (@boltthreads) has launched Mylo (@mylo_unleather), a sustainable and vegan leather alternative out of mycelium (as in mushrooms) that looks and feels like leather. Bolt Threads announced consortium with adidas, Kering, lululemon, and Stella McCartney, who will each be bringing Mylo products to consumers starting in 2021. With this consortium, these major brands has secured exclusive access to Mylo.
Bolt Threads CEO Dan Widmaier “They are joining forces and investing in a solution that can scale. These forward-thinking companies collectively represent hundreds of millions of square feet of potential demand for Mylo. Most importantly, this is an ongoing commitment to develop materials and products for a more sustainable future.”

How About Business Side of Biotech & Fashion?

According to the report published by Global Market Insights, biotechnology market size surpassed USD 417 billion in 2018 and is projected to exceed USD 729 billion by 2025.

One of the strongest player in bio-tech market will be fashion since $3-trillion-worth fashion industry collaborates with biotech companies to find sustainable solutions in order to preserve the health of the World.

The marriage between bio-tech and fashion is investors new playground. And the top five biotech companies finding solutions in the fashion industry raised millon dollar business in petri dishes;

• Bolt Threads has raised $213 million from investors that include Silicon Valley VC firms at a valuation of more than $700 million.
• MycoWorks announced the closing of a $45 million Series B financing to scale up and meet demand for Reishi™, the leading natural, non-animal leather material. Their total funding is now reach to $62M.
• Modern Meadow, bio-tech company biofabricating a revolution in materials and ingredients for consumers and the planet, raised a total of $53.5M in funding over 6 rounds.
• Ecovative Design, biomaterials company that provides sustainable alternatives to plastics and polystyrene foams by using mushroom technology, raised a total of $30.1M in funding over 11 rounds.
• Algiknit, a New York-based biotech start-up producing durable seaweed yarns, secured a seed investment of $2.2 million.

As Brandcared We Gave Start Bio-Revolution With Gozen Institute

Photo Credit: Gozen Institute

As Brandcared, we are proud to work with Gozen Institute as Turkey’s first and only institution focusing on design, biotechnology and art. Gozen Institute works with microorganisms, agricultural & industrial organic wastes to produce biobased materials within their Sustainable Bio-Design R&D #GrowTheFutureLab.
Gozen Institute develops cutting-edge biotechnology solutions and bio-design products by examining the needs of textile industry and use it to solve pollution problems in this sector.
With our brand, business & legal strategy services, Gozen Institute is preparing to launch their biomaterial range very soon. We’re happy to manage Gozen Institute’s investment processes and collaboration strategies for scaling up.

Feature of the Week: Desserto?

Adrián López Velarde and Marte Cázarez, two Mexican entrepreneurs have come up with a concept that uses cactus to create vegan leather.
Cactus leather, branded by the inventors as “Desserto leather” is cruelty-free and also significantly cuts down on the usage of natural resources helping the fight against pollution. The product is reliable for up to 10 years.
Desserto (@desserto.pelle) is the winner of the LVMH Innovation Awards 2020 and it is the first Mexican company to reach this level. They also won Green Product Award 2020 in Munich, Germany.