BacLEATHER · UPSCALE OF AN INNOVATIVE AND SUSTAINABLE BIOMATERIAL FOR THE LEATHER INDUSTRY

Turning animal skin into leather requires significant energy, and harmful chemicals, and releases substantial amounts of greenhouse gasses. Alternative synthetic leather is not an option since it is a highly polluting industry. We are using biotechnology to address the development of high-performance, animal-free, and more sustainable materials for the fashion, automotive, and home goods industries. We produce BacLEATHER, an eco-friendly material from microorganisms through an efficient and low-cost bio-production and proprietary process. Our technology provides solutions to the problems facing the leather industry, as our biomaterial has the same performances as the animal ones but are cleaner to produce (independent from animals, fossil-derived, and toxic chemicals), safer to wear, and ready to be used for manufacturers. BacLEATHER belongs to the nascent “next-gen materials industry” with a CAGR of 80% annually (2020-2026). Willingness to pay has already been confirmed with potential clients and we have established a collaboration with TEMPE, from GRUPO INDITEX (one of the most important brand footwear companies, owner of ZARA brand, among others) to prepare and validate the material for its market-fit within the footwear vertical. In 2022, Next-Gen Leather was funded by seed capital investors BeAble to exploit the technology previously developed by Patent Shoes,SL. Next step to develop this innovation will be to set up a pilot manufacturing plant so we are applying for Horizon Europe EIC Accelerator calls. But also we need to deploy our market positioning strategy to achieve the maximum visibility of our product and technology among all relevant stakeholders, clients and the public. In this sense, the support offered by Women TechEU Program will allow us that to design and execute a comprehensive communication and marketing strategy in a time-sensitive manner to target both potential B2B customers as well as future investors.