Jen Keane’s claim for fame is that she grew a shoe with the help of bacteria, which persuaded the microbes to deposit their nanocellulosic materials in the form of a sneaker. But she’s a bit about that.
“I feel that the point is missing,” she told Techcrunch. “The fiber produced by bacteria – such as, that’s not new.”
That does not mean that her new startup does not use the same fiber – it is – but another tack is needed, one that looks more like the way dust is made and is used today.
Her startup, Modern synthesisStill uses bacteria to grow nanocellulose fibers, but then it harvests and processes to create a series of different materials. The new approach is more like cotton in denim for jeans. Her sneaker experiment, on the other hand, seemed a bit like convincing a cotton plant to deposit his fibers in the form of pants. Cool, but not so easily scalable.
The fibers of modern synthesis can be manipulated in ways that simple plant fibers cannot. They can be spread in a thin, wind -resistant film or textured to simulate high -quality leather, said Keane, CEO of modern synthesis. In this way they are more like synthetic materials such as polyester and polyurethane.
The difference, however, is that the nanocellulosis materials of modern synthesis are ultimately biodegradable.
“You want your materials to last a lifetime or maybe two, such as 100 years. You don’t want them to hang out thousands of what most synthetic materials will do, “said Keane.
Because the basic brick of the textile of the startup is cellulose, what remains after they have been dissected, is similar to what can be found on a forest floor. “It should behave in the same way as other cellulose materials,” she said. “Cotton is a good example of that.”
One of the breakthroughs that Keane encouraged to find modern synthesis with Ben Reeve, the Chief Technology Officer of the company, was the possibility to only create materials with the help of nanocellulose. For example, other biomaterials can imitate leather, but some synthetic materials may have to be added to the mix to get it successful, she said.
Modern synthesis buys his nanocellulose from existing producers, who already make things in large quantities for a series of applications, from Food addives Unpleasant Medical. The startup then processes the nanocellulose to make different materials. In 2023, for example, it made an artificial leather for the Danish fashion brand Ganni, which used it to a handbag That did not contain petrochemicals.
Keane said that the company is working to quench the production in the pilot factory. Modern synthesis recently concluded a financing round of $ 5.5 million, the company told Techcrunch exclusively. The round was led by Extantia Capital with the participation of Artesian and Collaborative Fund.
Although sneakers, clothing and handbags are probably applications for the materials of modern synthesis, Keane also investigates more SCI-FI applications such as Slim Textiel with embedded electronics and more prosaic such as car dashboards.
“Cellulosic materials did not melt like synthetica,” she said. “If you think of carashboards, how it starts to melt if you have been in the sun for too long. Our materials will not do that. “
