Guilt-free fashion: Evonik invests in animal-free “leather” producer Modern Meadow

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In New Jersey, Evonik Venture Capital has made an undisclosed investment in Modern Meadow, a startup developing biofabricated materials with properties similar to leather.

Dubbed Zoa, Modern Meadow’s technology produces collagen protein without the use of animals.

“Consumer demand for animal-free products is increasing rapidly,” says Lutz Stoeber, investment director for Evonik Venture Capital in North America.  “With this investment Evonik is supporting Modern Meadow in developing a sustainable animal-friendly technology.”

Evonik and Modern Meadow first began collaborating in March 2018, with Evonik helping Modern Meadow scale the fermentation-based technology and improve process productivity. The two companies plan to bring a plant online in 2020 at an Evonik site in Slovakia.