Project description
Leather alternative captures footwear brands interest
The leather industry accounts for a USD 100 billion market that involves cruel and inefficient processes, including the culling of billions of animals. While leather manufacturers have a huge impact on the environment, there have been no noted alternatives to natural leather. BacLEATHER offers a leather-like biomaterial option. This material is produced by bacterial fermentation through proprietary technology that effectively mimics leather characteristics. Noted shoe companies have already been able to produce the material in short series. Collaborations have already been formed with leading footwear brands. BacLEATHER hopes to enter the fast growing leather-like market and achieve a five-year cumulative cash flow of EUR 16.75 million within five years.
Objective
The global leather business is still mainly dependent on raising and slaughtering of billions of animals. This, in the XXI century is not only an inefficient and cruel process but also, it creates a huge environmental impact, which could be avoidable. Unfortunately, brands and shoes manufacturers have no ecological alternative to natural leather that can reproduce successfully its key characteristics from the consumer point of view.
Existing alternatives in the market, mainly PVC bases synthetic leather, do not only show poorer performance from client perspective but also they still create a huge environment impact. Potential clients across the world (Inditex and Louis Vuitton in Europe; Puma, Adidas and Nike in USA) do confirm there is a clear trend towards the development of safer, toxic-free, sustainable, environmental-friendly and more ethical footwear and leather goods. Furthermore they confirm the need of new materials to increase their productivity and profitability while reducing the use of hazardous chemicals in tanning practices.
Considering the size of the leather market (estimated around 100bn$ by 2019, CAGR 3,4%) and these comments from clients, we see very high potential in upscaling to industrial level the results we obtained so far with BacLEATHER, a leather-like biomaterial. This material is produced by bacterial fermentation through a proprietary technology and mimics leather characteristics. Patent Shoes, S.L. has already been able to produce the material in short series and we have already established a collaboration with TEMPE, from GRUPO INDITEX (one of the most important brand footwear companies, owner of ZARA brand, among others) in order to prepare the material for its market-fit within the footwear vertical. We see in the BacLEATHER project a clear investment opportunity, in which we seek entering the fast growing leather-like market and achieve a five-year cumulative cash flow of €16,75 M€, meaning a 5-years ROI of 610%.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
28010 MADRID
Spain
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.