Objective Vegea is a young start-up with a solid chemical background with long experience in natural polymers and industrial processes, constituted by researchers coming from the academy with a strong entrepreneurial inclination. It has already received several awards recognizing the value of its disruptive innovation, such as Start&Cup Award-2015, Start&Re-Start-2016, and H&M Global Change Award-2016 for a total funding of more than €300.000. The main scope of VegeaTextile project is the deployment of an absolute breakthrough innovation demonstrating a novel, cost-effective and eco-friendly process for the production of organic textile and introducing in the European leather goods market a new kind of bio-textile using a non-animal and renewable raw material, considered up today an agricultural waste: the grape marc. In fact, the production process can be classified “low impact” for the environment since it makes minimal use of chemical reagents or additional water, and at the contrary, it produces reusable water from the grape marc exsiccation (60% w/w). Our innovation will allow leather goods manufacturers to answer to the increasing customers’ awareness about environmentalist and animalist concerns, to propose a new product with same quality of common leather and, at the same time, to find an alternative and renewable raw material, helping them to overcome stringent regulations about animal treats and tanning processes. Upon project length we aim at industrializing the process production by 2022, reaching a forecasted production capability of 4.5 million m2/yr, the ambitious business objectives of € 8,64 million net profits over 4 yrs of commercialization (2022), and consequently a greater-than-market ROI (26%) and profitability (22%). For the launch of VegeaTextile by 2019, we foresee a total investment of more than €900.000 of which €801.875 budgeted for the Phase-2. Fields of science engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energyengineering and technologymaterials engineeringcolorsengineering and technologymaterials engineeringtextilesengineering and technologymaterials engineeringcoating and filmsengineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologybiomaterials Keywords Bio-based products Agricultural waste recovery Green leather Circular Economy Programme(s) H2020-EU.3.2. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy Main Programme H2020-EU.3.2.4. - Sustainable and competitive bio-based industries and supporting the development of a European bioeconomy H2020-EU.3.2.1. - Sustainable agriculture and forestry H2020-EU.2.3.1. - Mainstreaming SME support, especially through a dedicated instrument H2020-EU.3.2.2. - Sustainable and competitive agri-food sector for a safe and healthy diet Topic(s) SMEInst-07-2016-2017 - Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for sustainable and competitive agriculture, forestry, agri-food and bio-based sectors Call for proposal H2020-SMEInst-2016-2017 See other projects for this call Sub call H2020-SMEINST-2-2016-2017 Funding Scheme SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2 Coordinator VEGEA SRL Net EU contribution € 561 312,00 Address VIA GIUSEPPE VERDI 12 24121 Bergamo Italy See on map SME The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed. Yes Region Nord-Ovest Lombardia Bergamo Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 801 875,00