ABOUT BIOFLUFF

• BioFluff was founded in Spain in 2021. BioFluff is both the material science company developing a 100% plant-based fur alternative, and the name of the primary product it creates.

• The as-yet undisclosed plant fibres used to produce BioFluff are highly adaptable and can be customised to mirror the look and feel of multiple real pelts if desired.

• While BioFluff is intended as a comparable replacement for animal fur (and a non-polluting one for plastic fur), CEO and co-founder Martin Stübler says, "one of the most important things to accelerate the transition to natural and bio-based materials is that they can't be compared to the original material. It's a different material, it has slightly different properties, and it has to be treated this way."

• Unlike previous attempts at plant-based alternatives by other companies, BioFluff is not a synthetic blend. The whole plant fibre is used to produce the 'fluff' and it is processed using substances such as oils and rubbers, which are naturally produced by plants during growth.

• Due to the natural composition of BioFluff, the company states it will biodegrade at end-of-life, akin to raw Cotton.

• BioFluff has been developed by co-founders Martin Stübler and Ashwariya Lahariya. Stübler, who devised the idea while working at a tannery in 2020, has previously worked with MycoWorks and Hermes, while Lahariya is a fibre and textile scientist.

• The San Fransisco-based company currently has EU and US patents pending, therefore the specifics remain undisclosed, however BioFluff is working with five plants: one on an industrial level, and four more in the lab.

• The plants are used for cover-cropping and therefore sourcing for BioFluff does not create competition for food crops. 

• BioFluff raised USD 500,000 in a pre-seed round that closed in June 2022. A seed funding round began in February 2023.

• The company is part of two startup accelerators: LVMH's La Maison des Startups, and IndieBio. LVMH's programme allows BioFluff to work directly with multiple fashion brands and receive industry feedback, while IndieBio focuses on laboratory development, manufacturing, and establishing a supply chain.

• The company has offices and production sites in the Bay Area and New York in the US, and Paris and Milan in Europe.

• BioFluff is currently working on small-scale manufacturing and running trials with brands and designers. It expects to produce "a few thousand" square metres by the end of 2023.

• The material can be produced on retrofitted faux fur manufacturing machinery.

• An LCA of BioFluff, funded by an EU grant, will be available in summer 2023.

• BioFluff sees itself as part of a wider ecosystem of biomaterials. "There are over 60 or 80 companies developing new biomaterials out there at the moment for the fashion sector, and we need creativity to incorporate all of them into a new way of designing and producing clothes," says Stübler.