Industry accolades for potato yarn
08/07/2024
The London-based start-up is developing a technology to extract a textile fibre from potato harvest waste. Presented as the future of natural fibres, it is said to possess properties similar to cotton and polyester, and that its diameter is close to that of cotton, giving it a soft hand feel.
Fibe sees an untapped agricultural raw material in the leftover stems and leaves of potato farming. It says that this organic material cannot be used to feed livestock nor turned into quality fertiliser and is currently pulverised and incinerated. The start-up estimates that some 150 million tonnes of waste are left unused, providing no economic value to farmers.
The company founded in 2022 has developed a biological process to extract fibres from the agricultural waste without harsh chemicals, and that its technology can be tuned to adapt to a brand’s requirements. It is designing an end-to-end automated production line to achieve scalability and price competitiveness.
“We are aiming to create an alternative that looks like conventional fibres, feels like conventional fibres and would one day cost the same as these fibres, all with substantial environmental saving and promoting staple food production,” said CEO and co-founder Idan Gal-Shohet.
After receiving several Innovate UK grants totalling £785,000, Fibe has recently closed a £1 million pre-seed investment round led by Tin Shed Ventures, Patagonia’s corporate venture arm, with participation from Alante Capital, PDS Ventures, First Imagine! and angel investors.
Photo: Idan Gal-Shohet, third from left, with members of the Fashion District’s judging panel, from left to right: Adam Mansell, CEO of UKFT Association; Chelsea Franklin, head of Advanced Concept Design at Pangaia; Matthew Drinkwater, who leads the London College of Fashion’s Fashion Innovation Agency; Ella Gould, lead circularity and innovation at Selfridges; and Gillian Lipton Fiema, former head of sustainability at Alexander McQueen.
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