December 11, 2024
Solena Materials is pleased to announce that we have won further grant funding to revolutionise the sustainable materials market, joining forces with the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) to advance this goal.
The grant was awarded as part of the Innovate UK Analysis for Innovators competition and will support research to characterise the unique properties of Solena’s innovative materials.
With this injection of funding, we aim to demonstrate that our new-to-world fibres have the potential to transform various industries, including fashion, healthcare, and consumer goods, by combining high-performance qualities with reduced environmental impacts.
The global textile industry has major environmental issues that it is not addressing effectively. The fashion sector emits as many greenhouse gases annually as the combined economies of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.1 Oil consumption related to textiles is also predicted to double in the next decade and triple by 2050.2
A big portion of the blame for the poor environmental record of the textile industry is its reliance on synthetic fibres, the global consumption of which increased from a few thousand tonnes in 1940 to more than 60 million tonnes in 2018.3
Since traditional synthetic fibres are oil-derived, have high emissions and cause microplastic pollution, there is an urgent need for apparel companies to source sustainable textile alternatives.
Natural fibres are not always a sustainable option since conventional farming methods used to produce these materials can be environmentally damaging.
Solena Materials is on a mission to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion sector by developing the next generation of sustainable textiles.
Our biomaterials platform and deep learning models allow us to design and develop new-to-world proteins from scratch, which can be used to create a new class of fibres.
These fibres are high-performance, bio-engineered alternatives to oil-derived synthetic materials. With superior mechanical properties and a high-quality soft hand-feel, the resulting materials surpass natural and traditional synthetic fibres.
Our unique processes also enable us to tailor these products to the specific needs and applications of different clients and industries.
The Innovate UK funding and partnership with NPL will support our research into understanding the composition and properties of our groundbreaking sustainable fibres. This will enable us to demonstrate the competitiveness of our cutting-edge fibres against other materials, especially how they outperform natural and synthetic alternatives.
By characterising the unique properties of our innovative materials, we will be able to optimise the design of our new-to-world synthetic proteins, which will help us scale up the production and allow us to start to bring our products to market.
These outcomes will help Solena Materials develop improved protein fibres and thus cater to the increasing demand for high-performance and environmentally friendly materials.
Speaking about the news, Liam Ives, Senior Scientist at Solena Materials, stated: “The successful execution of this Innovate UK funded project, in partnership with NPL, will not only position us as a leader in the sustainable materials market by enabling us to attract new customers who are seeking specific material properties but also contribute to meeting global climate goals and fostering a greener, more sustainable future.”
Andrea Briones, Senior Scientist at NPL also said: “We are excited to work on this project with Solena Materials and address measurement challenges the company is facing on the path to the translation of this promising technology to the development of sustainable textiles. High-performance alternatives to environmentally harmful materials are an attractive proposition to demonstrate the value of engineering biology innovation for the society .”
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Solena Materials is a biotech company on a mission to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion sector by leveraging engineering biology to create the next generation of synthetic fibres.
Our unique deep learning models design new-to-world proteins from scratch to develop fibres that are non-oil derived and do not compromise on performance.
As a spin-out from Imperial College London, Solena’s dedicated team of scientists and experts are redesigning the future of sustainable textiles from our base in the White City Innovation District in London.
1 McKinsey & Company 2020
2 Bartl and Ipsmiller, 2023 & Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017
3 EEA Europa, 2021
