Foundation Capital led the round, including new investors Formation 8 and the Founders Fund. Bolt Threads has raised a total of $40 million to support the research and commercialization of its Engineered Silk Technology
Bolt Threads uses proprietary technology to produce Engineered Silk Fabrics based on proteins found in nature. These programmable fibers, which can be tuned to provide superior comfort and performance, are the most significant innovations the textile industry has seen over the decades. Bolt Threads will use its Series B funding to increase production of better, smarter, more sustainable fibers and to expand its team of technology and apparel experts.
‘While it is one of the oldest industries in existence, I believe that textiles are still ripe for innovation,’ said Steve Vassallo, general partner of the Capital Foundation. ‘Bolt Threads is uniquely positioned to commercialize technology that people have been dreaming of for decades. They have developed a way of making Engineered Silk fibers on a commercial scale, at a cost that makes it viable for widespread use in consumer products-something that no one else has done. I’ve been looking into the industry for years before I started working with the founding team in 2010, and I couldn’t be more excited about the potential of Bolt Threads’ Engineered Silk to transform the textile industry. ”
The process of natural silk production has inspired co-founders of the company, CEO Dan Widmaier, Chief Scientific Officer David Breslauer and Vice President Operations Ethan Mirsky. The company was founded in 2009 to create materials with exceptional performance properties.
‘We started Bolt Threads on the basis of our fascination with the properties of spider silk, in particular how to use the elegant solutions found in nature to create something even better,’ Widmaier said. ‘Our technology combines biology and computational methods to produce high-performance fibers with carefully crafted properties. We are very excited to sustainably develop the next generation of performance fabrics that will transform what we wear and how we live. ”
Bolt Threads is an American-based company that conducts research at its headquarters in Emeryville, California and uses feedstock grown in the Midwest for production purposes. The company also collaborates with textile manufacturers in North Carolina on the commercial scale of production.
The founding team initially received funding from multiple sources, including the National Science Foundation, and raised funding from Foundation Capital, Mission Bay Capital, and Zygote Ventures. Each of the Series A participants also contributed to the funding of Series B, along with Formation 8, Founders Fund and Alafi Capital.
About the Bolt Thread
The material world is going to get a whole new material Bolt Threads is creating the next generation of high-performance fibers and fabrics using proprietary breakthroughs in industrial biotechnology. Working at the molecular level, Bolt Threads will transform the textile market, turning renewable raw materials into products with outstanding properties that meet specific consumer needs. Bolt Threads is based in Emeryville, California, with the support of Foundation Capital, Formation 8, and Founders Fund.
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