Bolt Threads’ Post

It is always surprising how easily people (experts and non-experts alike) prove their points without providing any relevant or curated data. What is this about? What and where is the data supporting these strong claims? Note that the issue is not only scalability but also post-production treatments; but mostly the lack of will to change to tackle environmental issues of industrial manufacturing. Caroline Jacob / Seymourpowell 1) "Eco-products were once considered inferior to “traditional” ones. But branding and product innovation have since made the offering more premium to reassure skeptical consumers." 2) "The raw materials themselves (that is, waste or living organisms) might come at a cheaper price than other conventional materials, but it’s the labor-intensive processes of biofabrication that have prevented its market growth. Thus, automation will be fundamental to unlocking affordability. "

Interesting. Such innovations are needed to combat plastic pollution. Only Technology can give solutions to save the future of Earth from plastic debris. United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) UNESCO MoEF&CC #plastics #marineplastics GEF-UNDP-IMO GloFouling Partnerships o

♻️ Make Biodegradable Packaging Safe Again Surprisingly, environmentally friendly products may require the use of hazardous materials. Manufacture of biodegradable packaging is one of such cases. The main ingredient in the process is glycolic acid, predominantly synthesised from formaldehyde that can cause cancer. 📌 The only way forward for production growth is a shift to a more eco-friendly process in terms of both raw materials and technology. At a recent European Symposium on Surface Science in Athens, our scientist presented an innovative solution for obtaining glycolic acid via the liquid-phase oxidation of ethylene glycol. 🌱 The linchpin of this reaction is the newly developed catalyst — palladium nanoparticles. It accelerates the oxidation of ethylene glycol and can replace formaldehyde. This emerging technology will be instrumental for the production of higher volumes of biodegradable packaging with a reduced environmental cost. #ESG #innovation #palladium #sustainability #health

💡 Imagine a future where the plastics in our healthcare industry are not only more efficient but also eco-friendly and anti-microbial. 🌿 That future is closer than you think, thanks to an innovative startup - Parx Materials N.V. Based in Rotterdam, ParxMaterials N.V. is ushering in a sea-change in healthcare with their groundbreaking technology that enables the creation of antimicrobial and antiviral plastics without using toxic substances. An innovation that is safe for humans, animals, and the environment. Co-founded by an ambitious duo, Michael vander Jagt and Michèle Fiori, Parx Materials has spent more than four years of dedicated biomimetic research into this unique and critical development. Is Biotech the future of healthcare? Discover more about this promising startup and the transformation their technology brings in the industry in our latest article. 🌐 https://lnkd.in/eT6PVG-Z Dive into the future of healthcare with us. 💡 #ECOFriendly #Biotech #Healthcare #Innovation #Startups #ParxMaterialsNV [Linkedin: https://lnkd.in/eN5Aq_Mr]

Navigating the product vs platform question and advice to founders in the field of synthetic biology/alternative materials ✨ 🏭 Platform companies require heavy infrastructure, specialization in different verticals and a business model applicable to various industries, making it challenging at the outset. Ginkgo has made several acquisitions in the last one year since they went public. 🛳 Ginkgo services clients in pharma, agriculture and industrial biotech which is food, materials and chemicals. To succeed as a platform company, one must effectively become a "platform of platforms," as each industry possesses its distinct synthetic biology platform, often involving the cultivation or manipulation of cells. Therefore, several platform companies focus on a vertical and service it well. 🏎 Product companies can leverage existing infrastructure to come up with more creative product ideas and go to market faster. Further, it’s easier for product companies to do B2B than B2C because of challenges in navigating customer perceptions. 📄 Government initiatives can also impact the choice between platform and product routes or how they influence the industry as a whole. In 2022, the Biden Administration signed an Executive Order calling on federal agencies to assess the potential impact of bio-manufacturing to advance sustainability solutions. While this is not yet at a company level, it is an exciting move for product companies who can leverage existing platforms around the world to achieve this. Examples of companies navigating this decision ; C16 Biosciences is developing a platform to produce oils from yeast, replacing palm oil prevalent in products ranging from lotions to detergents. They currently supply these oils to the personal care and beauty industry and aim to expand into the food markets eventually. To demonstrate the market demand and marketability, they do fermentation runs and create small batches of products in collaboration with brands. Notably, this oil derived from yeast serves as the foundational ingredient for Palmless' product line. Other successful partnerships are with vegan clothing brand PANGAIA and skincare company Haeckels. Polybion uses bacterial cellulose to make leather. In addition to setting up factories and working towards scale from the get go, they collaborated with fashion houses to produce bags, wallets and participated in runway shows. So, while they're making products to showcase and selling them with partners, they have a ‘platform’ in the sense that they’re selling B2B and can tweak the product to cater to various brands. Shoutout to Sushmita Venkatraman Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc. Erum Azeez Khan Messaginglab for sharing their thoughts at Terrarium! ✨

Exploring consumer adoption of biotechnology used in raw materials 🌱 Seymourpowell's Lead CMF Strategist, Caroline Jacob, gives her insight and take on how biotech can transform traditional materials – and how innovation of biotech will enhance the durability and luxuriousness of these materials. In this article for Fast Company, Jacob shares how leaders in the biotechnology industry such as U.S startup TômTex with their biodegradable ‘shrimp leather’ and MycoWorks, who are a pioneer in mushroom leather, are creating aesthetically pleasing leather alternatives, in which others in the field can learn from their innovation and strategy. Jacob doesn’t just highlight leaders in biotechnology, but also signifies the role that other disciplines and players such as Colourfix, Lanzatech and even automated robots, play in the innovation of biotechnology. The appetite for green investments shows no signs of slowing down, but showcases the need for wider attention to promote the growth of biotechnology. “The biotech industry does not operate in a vacuum. Wider attention must be paid to address the infrastructure of recycling, including composting. One would hope that in the near future, regulation would differentiate a biodegradable plastic bag from a compostable shoe, for example, in order to optimize recycling processes.” Learn more via Fast Company, link in comments. #SustainableDesign #Innovation #CircularEconomy #Biotechnology #Biofabricate

Sunday saw the best 😇use of ⏰JIT delivery 🤔 Today with my colleague Bill from the Angels@Essex 🕊️Investment 💰Platform 🚉 we went on field trip 🚜to the Eastern Agritech👨🌾🌾 Innovation 💡Hub to meet Steve Taylor 🥼⚗️🧬🧫from Seeds of Colour. Steve has pioneered 💡technology of pigment extraction ⛏️from fruits 🍒and Vegetables 🥕 from in eco-friendly 🌳🎋way to produce truly sustainable pigments for cosmetics.🧴💋💄🫦👄 Key 🗝️of the innovation is the deep🧠 scientific research 🔬🧑🔬enabling Setve and his team to develop the🧪👨🏽🔬 pigment, which are completely without any chemical 🧪additives. ++ I can confirm its deep 🧐research🔬 they use LEC 👀😳refrigeration ❄️🧊, great to see a product I 😎made 😥👨💻being used for innovative breakthrough 📡🛰️technology.💼

Have you ever heard of leather-like materials made with mycelium (so-called "mushroom leather")? 🍄 These biobased material innovations are revolutionizing the way we create leather goods in a more sustainable and ethical way. With all the noise about animal leather and vegan materials, we thought we would give you a little introduction into the different technologies that make their breakthrough in the fashion world. So let´s start with our little introduction on the next-gen material mycelium: In the making of "mushroom leather" from mycelium, mushroom cells are grown into mycelium, a net-like biological mass. Mycelia are structures of the fungus that usually grow underground and are therefore less well known than the superficial fungal body. The foam-like mycelium mat than can be used on it's own (for example as an insulation material) or can be further processed in chemical and / or mechanical processes to produce a leather-like material. The overall biobased content depends on the kind of processing. Known innovators in the field are MycoWorks, Ecovative - the mycelium technology company or SQIM. Have you heard about those innovations before? And how do you feel about wearing fungi? 🍄

Biofabrication has been selling the promise of a harmless, resilient, and versatile alternative to traditional materials for nearly a decade, and yet the industry has never truly scaled. Efforts are often stymied by complex, labor-intensive, and expensive processes. However, after at the 10th anniversary of the Biofabricate Summit earlier this year (the densest gathering of bio innovators in the world) it seems that biotech has finally reached maturity. Innovative companies are increasingly ushering in new technologies—signaling a seismic shift that’s set to unfold a whole new category of high-quality, low-impact materials that are naturally produced, of known provenance, and made-to-order.

Speaking today at S4i | Science for Industry Deep-Tech Investor Day in Madrid about all things Multus: - Ingredient innovation; to unlock better cell performance at lower cost -AI-driven media optimization; to achieve superior cell performance, faster and more reliably -scalable food-safe production; to de-risk scale-up, and make cultivated meat an affordable and sustainable choice around the world