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VitroLabs has raised $54.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Key people at VitroLabs.
VitroLabs has raised $54.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
VitroLabs engineers and produces cell-cultivated leather, fabricating animal hides in a laboratory without traditional animal farming. The company utilizes a scalable tissue engineering platform, growing genuine animal cells processed into a material identical in properties and aesthetics to conventional leather. This biotechnological approach provides a sustainable alternative for performance materials.
Founded in 2016 by Ingvar Helgason and Dusko Ilic, VitroLabs stemmed from Helgason’s vision to apply tissue engineering to material science. Drawing on his fashion background, Helgason recognized the potential to cultivate animal skin in a lab, inspired by human skin research. This insight sparked a company dedicated to ethical and sustainable material solutions.
VitroLabs targets luxury fashion and automotive sectors, offering ethical, high-quality alternatives to traditional leather. The company envisions a future where premium materials are produced with a significantly reduced ecological footprint, eliminating animal slaughter. Its mission is to transform the materials supply chain through biotechnology, providing responsible choices for brands and consumers.
VitroLabs is a biotechnology company founded in 2016 and headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area (Milpitas or San Jose, California), specializing in a scalable tissue engineering platform to produce cell-cultivated leather.[1][2][3] It builds lab-grown leather from a one-time collection of animal cells that grow in a nutrient-rich environment, replicating the look, feel, performance, and protein complexity of traditional leather without ongoing animal sourcing, addressing environmental sustainability and animal welfare issues in the leather industry.[1][3] The company serves fashion, luxury goods, and potentially automotive sectors, solving the problem of resource-intensive traditional leather production amid rising demand for ethical alternatives; it raised $46 million in Series A funding in 2022 led by Agronomics, with investors including Kering, Khosla Ventures, and Leonardo DiCaprio, to scale its first pilot production facility.[3][5]
VitroLabs was founded in 2016 by a team advancing 3D tissue engineering, initially focusing on biofur (lab-grown pelts and leather from stem cells) before pivoting to scalable leather production.[1][4] Key early developments include proprietary processes combining tissue engineering with commercial-scale innovations, enabling leather growth from minimal cells without repeated animal harvesting.[1] Pivotal traction came via partnerships like Kering for product testing, tanning, and finishing, culminating in the 2022 $46 million raise to launch pilot production—the world's first for cell-cultivated leather—backed by impact investors focused on sustainable materials.[3][5]
VitroLabs rides the cellular agriculture and cultivated materials wave, capitalizing on trends like lab-grown meat analogs extending to leather amid climate pressures on animal agriculture.[1][3] Timing aligns with luxury brands (e.g., Kering) and automakers phasing out traditional leather for ethical, low-impact alternatives, driven by consumer demand and regulations favoring sustainability.[3] Market forces include booming sustainable materials sectors in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, with VitroLabs influencing the ecosystem by proving scalable bioleather viability—pioneering pilot production and attracting cross-industry investment to normalize cell-cultivated products.[3]
VitroLabs is poised to disrupt leather markets by operationalizing its pilot facility post-2022 funding, targeting commercial rollout in luxury fashion and automotive by leveraging patents and partnerships.[3][5] Trends like expanding cellular tech adoption, stricter ESG mandates, and vegan luxury demand will propel growth, potentially evolving its influence from pioneer to supply chain staple as biofabrics scale globally. This positions VitroLabs as a biotech leader redefining sustainable materials, fulfilling its mission to deliver uncompromising leather alternatives from cells alone.[1]
VitroLabs has raised $54.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $47.0M Series A in May 2022.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 2022 | $47M Series A | — | Alpha Edison, Footprint Coalition, Montage Ventures, Daniel Rosensweig, RON Pragides | Announced |
| Sep 1, 2021 | $7M Series A | — | Alpha Edison, Footprint Coalition, Montage Ventures, Daniel Rosensweig, RON Pragides | Announced |
Key people at VitroLabs.
VitroLabs has raised $54.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
VitroLabs's investors include Alpha Edison, Footprint Coalition, Montage Ventures, Daniel Rosensweig, Ron Pragides.
