Thursday, May 12, 2016

Patagonia Partners With High Tech Fabric Startup

Ventura-based outdoor apparel company Patagonia has partnered with a startup developing a high performance, synthetic silk fabric, made out of natural proteins. Bolt Threads, which says it is creating high performance, sustainable fabrics created from natural proteins rather than hydrocarbons, announced the partnership along with a $50M, Series C investment on Thursday. The investment round came from Nan Fung, Innovation Endeavors, Alafi Capital, East West Capital, Foundation Capital and Founders Fund. Details of the partnership with Patagonia were not announced, however, the two said they would work on developing sustainable and non-toxic processes for textile manufacturing.