Squitex, TreeKind and the Microfiber Innovation Challenge Finalists – WWD

A suite of material innovators are challenging the microfiber conundrum in a challenge billed as trying to “halt microfiber pollution.”

Conservation X Labs, a technology and innovation hub based in Washington, D.C., is awarding $650,000 in prizes as part of its Microfiber Innovation Challenge, partly funded by the Flotilla Foundation, a charity centered on marine pollution, and The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, which funds a range of charitable activities.

“From our perspective designing and running the Microfiber Innovation Challenge, we think there is great potential for biomaterials to play a role in reducing the shedding of plastic or long-lasting microfibers,” Barbara Martinez, open innovation director at CXL, told WWD. “However, biomaterials are not the only types of solutions that came through the Microfiber Innovation Challenge, and we recognize that there is not one single, silver bullet solution that will address the shedding of microfibers.”

Finalists were announced last week with the chosen dozen including: Seaweed yarnmaker AlgiKnit (which just announced a new North Carolina innovation hub); India-based AltMat; Graphene-based fibers by Nanoloom; Brooklyn-based Kintra Fibers; Oakland-based Mango Materials; Natural Fiber Welding (which counts Allbirds and Ralph Lauren as investors); Italian, citrus-powered Orange Fiber; Pangaia (for its surface altering solution to microfiber shedding); Finnish firm Spinnova; Squitex (which synthetically mimics protein structure from squid tentacles); London-based TreeKind; and New York-based Werewool Fibers.

All will be awarded at least some portion of the prize money. In February 2022, judges will allocate $500,000 based on needs, merit and performance. No winner will walk away with anything less than $50,000 in this first round. The remaining $150,000 will be doled out in the second round, based on “jointly established metrics,” according to Martinez, though those metrics have not yet been revealed.

“As the Microfiber Innovation Challenge applicants are working toward getting their fibers or products to market, they need to decide which tests or metrics or certifications will best convey the environmental impact of their innovation — and this can be a challenge to the innovators, but also a great opportunity for the innovators to home in on what their innovation does best, and collect data on that metric,” Martinez added.

Organizations like The Biomimicry Institute, Bolt Threads, Canopy, Fashion For Good, Finisterre, the Material Innovation Initiative and Microfibre Consortium were among the challenge’s supporters.

Brands like Another Tomorrow and The North Face were also integral to the competition.

Speaking on the importance of the challenge, Vanessa Barboni Hallik, founder and chief executive officer of Another Tomorrow and a guest judge for the Microfiber Challenge, said, “We need both innovation and regulation — fast. The Conservation X Labs challenge has attracted an exceptional caliber of innovators and is providing meaningful grant funding that will serve as a catalyst to unlock further capital.”