In North Carolina, researchers at Cultivated Biomaterials have created jewelry from leather grown in the lab from cells sourced from Angel, the cow. They claim it is the world’s first lab-grown jewelry, which they have dubbed Angelry.
Cultivated Biomaterials uses a tissue engineering approach inspired by MIT’s Prof. Robert Langer. “Our process stands apart by using skin cells from a living, sanctuary-raised cow named Angel to grow cultivated leather,” founder and CEO George Engelmayr tells Green Queen.
Cultivated Biomaterial has launched a crowdfunding campaign to scale the process because venture capital for climate tech has fallen out of favor. “With Kickstarter, we don’t need to concern ourselves with valuations, term sheets, or cap tables. The more we raise from generous backers who are excited by our mission and cultivated leather, the faster we can optimize and scale,” says Engelmayr.