The latest funding round is backed by Sir David Harding, SynBioVen, and Insempra.
Solena, which spun out of Imperial College London in 2022 by co-founders Dr James MacDonald, professor Paul Freemont, and Professor Milo Shaffer, had previously raised $4.1m in pre-seed funding.
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The new funds will facilitate Solena’s relocation from the I-HUB at Imperial’s White City Deep Tech Campus to a more expansive facility, with aspirations to remain proximal to Imperial.
This move is strategic for scaling up the production of their unique textile fibres and initiating commercial support for clients within fashion and textiles sectors.
Solena is on track to debut its inaugural product through a collaborative brand partnership within a three-year timeframe.
Dr James MacDonald said: “This investment is a strong vote of confidence in our mission to deliver the next generation of textile fibres. This funding will help us expand production capacity, reduce costs, and begin collaborating with partners to launch products made with Solena fibres. It marks an exciting step towards a future where sustainability and performance go hand in hand.”
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By GlobalDataSolena leverages AI to tailor clothing fibres at a molecular level and later scales it through engineered microbes. It optimises fibre attributes like texture, durability, and strength, resulting to an advanced fashion items, athletic wear, and technical fabrics.
The company’s bio-based alternatives counter the environmental toll of petrochemical-based, non-biodegradable performance materials that contribute to plastic pollution during production and laundering.
Professor Paul Freemont said: “This extraordinary technology is opening up a whole new paradigm in the design of protein fibres. James has created new protein molecules that can form fibres that currently don’t exist. That’s really exciting because no one has been able to do that before – we’ve always had to rely on what nature gave us. Now we’re building our own protein fibres from first principles. This will be a paradigm shift.”
The renewable feedstocks used by the microbes in fibre production suggest a potential reduction in environmental impact compared to petroleum-based synthetics and high-resource natural fibres. Moreover, Solena’s fibres are biodegradable, unlike conventional synthetics such as polyester.
Dr MacDonald unveiled details of this financial milestone at the SynBioBeta conference in California, US.
Insempra CEO Jens Klein said: “Investing in Solena Materials aligns perfectly with Insempra’s mission to drive a regenerative revolution by developing sustainable, high-performance ingredients with nature. We are excited to accelerate Solena’s innovative approach to creating biodegradable, non-oil-derived fibres that have the potential to transform the textile industry.”
