cultivated leather

Natural colors

© Lantana Bio
Startups, Accelerators & Incubators

Biotope Unveils Fifth Cohort Focused on Solutions for Leather, Food Waste, and Natural Colors

Biotope, a Belgian biotech incubator and early-stage investor, has revealed the three startups selected to be part of its fifth and latest cohort: Corium Biotech, I-Challenge, and Lantana Bio. Launched by the Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Biotope aims to bring agrifood startups to seed-stage readiness within 18 months, de-risking biotechnology investments to drive innovation in the biotech space. Annick Verween, Head of Biotope, shared: “Biotope focuses on potentially impactful solutions which can benefit from a dedicated biotech ecosystem to support them. Our new, fifth cohort is a perfect reflection of this mission – all of the startups represented are passionate entrepreneurs with groundbreaking biotech solutions that have the power to create lasting change for people and the planet.” Leather, food shelf life, and natural …

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vitrolabs_leather

© VitroLabs
Leather Alternatives

Vegan Bio-Based Leathers to Grow by 37.4% Annually Over the Next Decade

The push for sustainable alternatives to animal and plastic leathers has led to a burgeoning market of vegan bio-based leathers. According to a 10-year market forecast by IDTechEx, the vegan bio-based leather industry production capacity will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37.4% from 2024 to 2034. Leather is a sought-after material for its durability, strength, and aesthetic appeal. However, the report points out that according to UN estimates, animal leather production exceeds 20 billion square feet annually, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation. Additionally, the tanning process of leather production releases hazardous chemicals and gases, including lead, chromium, arsenic, and carcinogenic arylamine. Meanwhile, vegan leather made from plastics, a common alternative due to its low cost, has environmental issues, including …

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Michael Newton of Qorium

Michael Newton. © Qorium
Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Qorium: “Our Product Creates Consistent, Beautiful, and Easily Workable Leather”

Founded in 2014, Dutch biotech startup Qorium is developing cultivated leather to provide an ethical and sustainable alternative to animal leather with no compromises on performance. The company’s technology enables the development of leather alternatives with consistent quality and adjustable properties. The result is a premium material with dramatically reduced carbon emissions and waste compared to conventional leather. In 2021, Qorium raised €2.6 million to scale up its technology. The company then announced earlier this year that it had secured further funding as part of its journey towards commercial scale, and revealed it had appointed former Nike senior executive Michael Newton as CEO. We spoke to Newton to find out more about Qorium’s technology and its benefits. What challenges does Qorium face in terms of …

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3DBT cultivated meat steak

Image courtesy of 3D Bio-Tissues

Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

3DBT Receives £2.9M in Capital To Expedite Production of Cultivated Meat and Leather

London’s BSF Enterprise, a biotech company focused on lab-grown meat that wholly owns clinical and cellular agriculture company 3D Bio-Tissues (3DBT), has raised £2.9 million via an oversubscribed placing at 17p/share, reports Vox Markets.  BSF will use the new investment to provide working capital for 3DBT to accelerate its progress and increase its capacity to produce cultivated meat and leather using its serum-free media platform, City-Mix. Serum-free media, City-Mix  Following its acquisition by BSF in May 2022, 3DBT said it was working to produce the UK’s first cultivated meat cut. Five months later, the biotech announced the successful development of three small cultivated meat prototypes using its tissue templating platform, City-Mix, which does not use scaffolding as structural support for cell attachment. In February, 3DBT announced it had …

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a piece of cultured leather that looks like animal leather

© VitroLabs
Leather Alternatives

DiCaprio Backed VitroLabs Appoints Industry Figures to Bring World’s First Cultivated Leather to Market

VitroLabs, which raised $46 million in a Series A from high-profile investors including Kering and Leonardo DiCaprio this May, has appointed a notable Board of Directors as part of its mission to create luxurious next-gen leather from cells. The San Francisco-based startup says it has been officially manufacturing its cell-cultivated leather in its pilot plant and that its R&D team is working on advancing its proprietary tissue engineering processes to develop the next-gen leather that luxury brands seek for their products. Appointed to the Board of Directors this week are Anthony Chow, co-founder of Agronomics; and Martin Avetisyan, chief growth officer and member of the Executive Board at FARFETCH. Agronomics is a cellular agriculture investment group headed by billionaire philanthropist Jim Mellon, while FARFETCH is …

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©Gucci
Leather Alternatives

VitroLabs Cultivated Leather Raises $46M from Fashion Giant Kering & Leonardo DiCaprio 

Luxury giant Kering has backed VitroLabs, a San Francisco startup developing cell-cultivated leather. The French fashion company, whose brands include Gucci and Saint Laurent, has participated in a $46 million funding round to accelerate VitroLabs’ commercialization. The Series A funding was led by Agronomics, the UK cellular agriculture investment group headed by billionaire philanthropist Jim Mellon, and also received funding from environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio amongst others. VitroLabs is a Bay-Area-based biotech company leading the development of a new scientific process to grow what it claims is the world’s first cellular cultivated animal leather. The funds will be used to accelerate commercialization for the biotech startup, including the building and scaling of pilot production. Global luxury group Kering, with assets of over €27 billion, will continue …

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