Rubi Labs raises £5.3m in seed funding

Rubi Laboratories has raised £5.3 million ($8.7 million) in additional seed funding, advancing closer to creating scaleable carbon-negative viscose.

Rubi Labs, founded by twin sisters Neeka and Leila Mashouf, is a biotech business seeking to revolutionize sustainable textiles in the apparel sector. It converts carbon dioxide from the waste streams of manufacturing plants into cellulose using a biological process. After that, the cellulose is transformed into lyocell yarn, which is used to make textiles without contributing to deforestation.

The most recent round of funding for Rubi Labs was spearheaded by Talis Capital, Tin Shed Ventures of Patagonia, and H&M Group. Currently, it has received £11.3 million ($13.5 million) in funding overall.

In order to assess how well the material fits into current supply chains, develop prototype items, and market prototypes as part of limited-edition capsule collections, the funds will support the next round of testing.

The following phase will involve initiatives with Ganni, Reformation, and Urban Outfitters’ Nuuly in addition to current partners H&M and Patagonia.

Nicolaj Reffstrup, Founder of Ganni, said that Rubi Labs is an exciting fabric development that has the potential to be climate positive as it attempts to trap carbon from the atmosphere in various production processes. They need to eventually reach a point where they can produce goods that actually have a positive influence. Fashion will get there thanks in large part to fabric advancements, but for that to happen, firms must wager and take chances. This is why, through their innovation project “Fabrics of the Future,” they’re dedicated to supporting and funding ground-breaking fabric breakthroughs like Rubi Labs.

The majority of the firms, which sell their products at varying price ranges, have already started the testing, which will last a total of six months.

Neeka Mashouf, Co-founder and CEO of Rubi Labs, said that the first part was material testing, which proved that their material has the key attributes brands look for in terms of performance and quality and that it matches up to conventional cellulosics. It’s no secret that the supply networks for the fashion industry are extremely complicated and that many firms lack control over the entire chain. To try to reduce these risks and make it as affordable as possible, they are bringing on manufacturing partners.