👕 200 New Materials Disruptors

Biodegradable fibers, carbon-capturing cement, seaweed-based bioplastics and mycelium-grown leather: the future of new materials is here to stay.

But wearing it, building with it or unwrapping a packaging with it has yet to hit the mainstream to the extent that it can significantly reduce the emissions impact of materials.

→ Combined, the buildings and construction, fashion and plastics sector account for a staggering 51% of GHG emissions.

That’s why bold Founders are at the forefront of a new era for materials, leveraging technology to drive social impact, close the loop on material waste and unlock large-scale partnerships.

But not all alternative materials are created equally.

They may not be 100% biobased or petroleum-free, leaving them un-recyclable or contain non-biodegradable composites of many different materials. And they may be subject to mounting CapEx costs as they grow or not be economically viable at scale.

These are just some of the hurdles facing Materials Founders as they play their part to decarbonize the global materials industry, whilst creating the circular economy at the speed and scale that we so desperately need.

The race is well and truly on to cut material emissions and waste - we just tracked 200 frontrunners who are blazing the trail for low-emissions, waste-free, circular materials.

Let’s meet the startups who are determined to go the distance…

👕 200 New Materials Startups to Know

These 100 startups are working on the future of new materials, across:

• Mycelium alternatives to textiles, insulation and building materials

• Seaweed-based bioplastics, styrofoam and packaging replacements

• Plastic Waste for buildings, eco-bricks and sustainable concrete

• Upcycling by transforming by-products and waste into new materials

• Advanced Materials using SynBio or engineering for high performance

• Recycling by breaking down materials to create new, circular products

• Construction with green metals and high-performance biocomposites

But the breadth of new materials startups doesn’t end there. The landscape is rapidly evolving with impact technologies and if you’re looking to add new names to your startup radar then head this way for the full list of 200 names.

🌤️ 10 Pitfalls and Possibilities to Scaling New Materials

Can new materials scale fast enough to compete with traditional materials? Can they really sway mass fashion brands, construction giants and packaging manufacturers to replace their fossil-fuel counterparts?

We caught up with 10 industry insiders to hear where the opportunities and challenges lie for Founders who are daring to upend the global materials sector.

Hear from Stephanie Lipp of MycoFutures, Sonalie Figueiras of Green Queen Media and Source Green, Shannon Parker of True Materialist, Kidus Asfaw of Kubik, Mridul Pareek of European Circular Bioeconomy Fund [+5 more experts] on what it will take to ‘green’ the materials space.

🧵 Closing the Loop to Recycle Textiles at Hyperscale

Polyester is the biggest and fastest growing textile fiber. Yet polyester is also the biggest CO2 emitter, accounting for up to 40% of the textile industry’s total CO2 emissions. 

What if the textiles we create, use, and throw away are reborn into new, high-quality textile products ensuring an infinite cycle of the past and the future.

Enter Syre. A textile impact company decarbonizing and dewasting the industry through textile-to-textile recycling. At hyperscale.

Before their CEO, Dennis Nobelius takes to the stage at the HackSummit in New York, he told us how they landed a contract with H&M worth $600m in revenue, why they’re creating regional recycling loops in America, Europe, Africa and SE Asia and which categories (after fashion) they’re going for next. And now you can too.

🌍 All things Deep Tech. Including Materials

If you share our enthusiasm for Climate Deep Tech and want to come together with other like minded builders, investors, corporates and policy makers then it’s time to book your place to join us at the HackSummit New York this December.

We’ll be joined by Stealth to Series B Founders behind moonshot technologies like Sealed’s CEO Lauren Salz and Pow.bio’s CEO, Shannon Hall as well as some of the new materials startups mentioned above.

We’ll be heading to NYC primed for two day’s of discovery and deal making before the end of the year. Let’s make sure you’re in the room too.

🚢 Explore The Future of Materials at the HackSummit in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard

The host of our inaugural US HackSummit is where else than Newlab in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard, a one-of-a-kind deeptech ecosystem housed in a venue dating back to the early 1800s.

The Brooklyn Navy Yard has played a pivotal role in shaping American history, from its origins as a naval shipyard that at its peak saw 75,000 workers on site to its transformation today into a dynamic industrial park home to 500+ businesses including some of the city’s brightest builders and inventors.

We can’t imagine a better setting to discuss the coming of the next industrial revolution in a space so steeped in manufacturing history.

Enjoy Climate Week NYC and hope to see you back in Brooklyn this December.

Laura at Hack