Kintra Fibers – a materials science company that developed a proprietary bio-based and biodegradable polyester – announced it has successfully raised $8 million in Series A funding in a round led by H&M Group. The notable strategic and institutional investors who co-invested in the round include BESTSELLER Invest FWD, Fashion for Good, New York Ventures (the investment arm of Empire State Development), TRE Ventures, Tech Council Ventures, and FAB Ventures (a firm founded by Odile Roujol, former CEO of Lancôme).
This funding round saw participation from several notable angel investors, including Craig Kallman (Chairman and CEO of Atlantic Records), Jared Smith (co-founder of RXBar), Cami Téllez (founder of Parade), Nina Faulhaber and Meg He (co-founders of Aday), AmyAnn Cadwell (founder of The Good Trade), and Rana Argenio (founder of 10 Grove).
With 250 kg of resin produced to date on a pilot line, Kintra has been expanding to a commercial manufacturing facility with the support of Series A funding and a consortium of brand partners. And the company’s goal for the year is to produce its first ton of resin. The manufacturing facilities that the team is evaluating have the capacity to produce hundreds of tons. Integrating with one of these facilities will enable Kintra to satisfy near-term commercial demands, as the company begins with one ton and gradually scales up production.
Along with enabling Kintra Fibers to expand its resin and yarn production capacities, the new funding will help the company support its frontier brand partners – which include Reformation, Inditex, H&M, and BESTSELLER. These industry leaders have come together as a consortium to prototype Kintra’s materials in their product lines as they are driven by a shared goal to explore innovative and more environmentally-responsible materials.
Kintra’s material has been through yarn testing, which had demonstrated that it boasts strength and durability comparable to traditional polyester (PET) while also being ten times softer. And Kintra’s material also possesses an inherent stretch quality with test results indicating a stretch recovery of 10% to 15%.
This combination of desirable material properties results in textiles with an ultra-soft hand feel, a nice drape, and a comfortable stretch. And the company has tested these properties in a variety of yarn and fabric constructions, including knit fabrics made from air jet-textured and draw-textured yarns, and twill, satin, and plain woven fabrics made from fully-drawn yarns.
This unique combination of Kintra’s strong, soft, and stretch properties not only offers superior fabric performance but also has significant environmental benefits. And by eliminating the need to blend cotton or spandex, Kintra’s mono-material fabric construction can help facilitate easier textile recycling in both chemical and mechanical recycling systems. But in contrast, traditional polyester (PET) often requires blending with other fibers to achieve the desired fabric qualities of strength, softness, and comfort stretch, which makes recycling more difficult.
Kintra Fibers has conducted a preliminary cradle-to-gate environmental impact analysis by comparing its raw material and resin production processes to those of PET. And the findings reveal that Kintra’s resin production reduces emissions by 95%, and consumes 20% less energy compared to PET resin.
The company is optimistic about further energy savings in downstream production processes like yarn spinning, dyeing, finishing, and even chemical recycling as Kintra’s process uses lower temperatures than PET at each of these manufacturing steps. And Kintra yarns pass the ASTM D6400 / ISO 14855-1 tests for aerobic biodegradation in controlled compost conditions.
KEY QUOTES:
“Our investment in Kintra Fibers’ technology is a compelling opportunity to transform the manufacturing process and contribute towards a circular and climate-positive future. What impresses us is that Kintra Fibers’ technology leverages existing polyester production equipment for critical manufacturing processes, such as resin and yarn production. This capability to scale quickly and cost-effectively is a major advantage for Kintra Fibers as they work towards their goal of reducing the fashion industry’s environmental footprint.”
– Erik Karlsson, Investment Manager at H&M Group Ventures (H&M Group’s investment arm)
“We are excited to have industry leaders like H&M, BESTSELLER, and Fashion for Good invest in Kintra Fibers. This funding, and the support from our consortium of brands partners, will accelerate our research and development and our scaling timeline, with real-time feedback on our product from brands and their manufacturing partners. Together, we can make a significant impact on the fashion industry’s environmental footprint and work towards a truly circular future.”
– Billy McCall, CEO and co-founder of Kintra Fibers
“Given the significant environmental impact of traditional polyester and the expected growth of the synthetic fiber market, there is a clear need for the industry to change. Kintra Fibers fits our Invest FWD strategy where we continuously investigate alternative fibers for long-term viability, and we are excited to be among the brands taking action to help Kintra Fibers scale its promising solution.”
– Camilla Skjønning Jørgensen, Innovation Manager at BESTSELLER
“Kintra’s yarns and fabrics offer versatility similar to traditional polyester, making them ideal for luxury, athletic, and ready-to-wear markets. Each brand in the consortium has chosen an application that is unique to their product design needs and sustainability goals. The consortium gains the benefit of advancing multiple applications using Kintra’s materials while prototyping just one.”
– Katrin Ley, Managing Director at Fashion for Good
“We’re proud to collaborate with Kintra Fibers and Fashion for Good as part of the first consortium of brands to prototype Kintra’s materials. Innovations like this that help reduce our reliance on fossil fuel-based synthetics are essential to our sustainability efforts at Reformation, particularly our goal to be Climate Positive by 2025. It’s on us as an industry to take an active role in scaling next generation solutions, like Kintra, that have the potential to power the future of fashion.”
– Kathleen Talbot, Chief Sustainability Officer and Vice President of Operations at Reformation
“Kintra’s solution aligns with both nature and existing industrial processes, empowering a transformation towards an industry that operates in harmony with the planet. By utilizing bio-based inputs and designing a biodegradable material from the outset, Kintra addresses the environmental impact caused by traditional polyester at every stage, from production to usage and end-of-life, providing a comprehensive solution for a truly circular fashion industry.”
– Alissa Baier-Lentz, COO and co-founder of Kintra Fibers
