H&M wants to make clothing from CO2 using this startup’s tech

The fashion industry knows it has a waste problem. About one garbage truck of textiles is thrown away every second. Meanwhile, the industry generates more carbon pollution than international flights and maritime shipping combined. 

Some companies are experimenting with new ways to recycle textile waste, while others are developing new materials that won’t require fossil fuels. One startup, Rubi, is “basically taking the machinery of biology outside of the cell” to make the building blocks of lyocell and viscose, co-founder and CEO Neeka Mashouf told TechCrunch. The startup’s technology would allow any company that uses cellulose to build products from captured carbon dioxide.

Rubi recently raised $7.5 million to build a demonstration scale of its cellulosic production system, which is designed to produce tens of tons of material using CO₂ as its main ingredient. The round was led by AP Ventures and FH One Investments, with participation from CMPC Ventures, H&M Group, Talis Capital, and Understorey Ventures, Rubi exclusively told TechCrunch.

The startup has booked more than $60 million in non-binding off-take agreements with a couple of partners, Mashouf told TechCrunch. The company has tested the material with 15 pilot partners, including H&M, Patagonia, and Walmart.

To make cellulose for lyocell or viscose, Rubi uses enzymes. That differs from other startups, which might use engineered bacteria inside a fermenter or chemical catalysts to transform carbon dioxide into the compound. Today, most cellulose comes from trees, including plantations and virgin rainforests.

“These textile and raw material supply chains are very long,” Mashouf said. “Here in the U.S., we’ve gotten interest in being able to actually produce cellulose pulp that’s textile-grade, where that doesn’t exist today.”

The idea to use enzymes came when Mashouf, who as a scientist researched new materials, teamed up with her twin sister, Leila, who was studying medicine at Harvard Medical School. “We looked at all the tech out there,” she said, but they kept coming back to enzymes.

The enzyme industry is massive, she said. It’s used to make high-fructose corn syrup and in wastewater treatment. “The capacity is out there already and can be very low cost.”

Rubi uses a “cascade” of enzymes to process waste carbon dioxide. The company has used AI and machine learning methods to boost the enzymes’ efficacy and stability. 

Currently, the enzymes float in an aqueous solution, and as carbon dioxide is added, white cellulose will appear inside the reactor within a few minutes, Mashouf said. The reactors fit inside shipping container-sized modules. Eventually, Rubi plans to change its process to allow for continuous production.

While the startup is targeting apparel companies as its first customers, eventually it hopes to provide cellulose to any industry that uses it. “This really is a platform,” Mashouf said. “We think of it as a platform to make all the important chemicals and materials across the economy in a low-cost way.”