As part of a Series A investment round, Bay-Area-based biotech company VitroLabs has raised $46 million that will be used to scale the pilot production of the world’s first cellular cultivated animal leather.
Founded back in 2016, VitroLabs’s mission is to sustainably and ethically create real, cell cultivated animal leather in a lab.
The Series A round was led by Agronomics, with other investors including BESTSELLER’s Invest FWD, global luxury group Kering, Khosla Ventures, actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, New Agrarian, and Regeneration.VC.. Kering, who is the parent company of brands such as Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent, is partnered with VitroLabs to help with product quality testing, tanning, and finishing.
“At Kering, a chapter/pillar of our sustainability roadmap is dedicated to sustainable innovation and actively looking for alternative materials that can reduce our environmental impact over the long term is part of the solutions we have been exploring for years. We believe that innovation is key to addressing the sustainability challenges that the luxury industry is facing, which is why we are very interested in the potential of biomaterials such as cultivated leather,” said Marie-Claire Daveu, chief sustainability and institutional affairs officer at Kering.
“At a time when environmental stewardship is more important than ever, biotech companies have the opportunity to lead the way in changing how we produce materials and build supply chains, working hand in hand with existing artisans and craftspeople who are the cornerstone of the $400B leather goods industry,” says VitroLabs CEO Ingvar Helgason. “By launching the first production of cultivated leather, we’ll hit a major milestone in fulfilling our mission to lead the shift towards a more sustainable future.”
“Over the last two years, we have been laser-focused on pushing our tissue engineering platform in order to increase efficiency and to optimize tissue production to obtain the look, feel, and performance of traditional leather at scale,” explains VitroLabs co-founder and stem cell scientist Dr. Dusko Ilic. “With several major breakthroughs in the areas of bioreactor design, bioprocess and facility design, and cell culture development, we are now on our way to a scalable process that delivers the desired premium qualities, forging a path towards the ultimate goal of industrialization.”
