Leather alternative from beer secures £1.1m investment
UK-based company, Arda Biomaterials, has received an investment of £1.1 million into a process that turns waste from the beer industry into a leather alternative. The investment was led by the clean-tech venture capital fund, the Clean Growth Fund.
Its technology converts waste barley grain, a by-product of the beer brewing industry, into a leather-like alternative. This material, named New Grain™, has the potential to have a number of applications across multiple industries – including fashion, home goods, and automotive.
Arda expects to unveil its finished material ready for sale to brands within the next year.
The company was launched last year by co-founders CTO Edward TJ Mitchell and CEO Brett Cotten who met via global talent investor Entrepreneur First. Mitchell has a PHD in chemistry and Cotten has a background in the alternative protein sector.
The company’s headquarters are aptly located in ‘The Leather Market’ building near London Bridge. The breweries it works with are situated along the ‘Bermondsey Beer Mile’ in South London, an area that was once a leather tanning district.
Arda Biomaterials was shortlisted for the H&M Global Change Award in March 2023 which honours ideas that reinvent fashion for the good of the planet. Presently, some of the company’s early innovative pieces are being showcased at Fabrica X, part of the tech style and agrifood community The Mills Fabrica, near London’s King’s Cross.
Mitchell, Arda’s CTO, commented “The advent of cheap plastics wiped out a century of innovation in using natural inputs to make materials. Now, with sustainability in mind, we are discovering that the natural world has all the building blocks needed to create marvellous and sustainable materials.”
CEO Cotten added: “Many people believe leather is a by-product of cows; it’s really more of a co-product that subsidises the continuation of animal agriculture.
“I am thrilled that we can skip the cow to create a truly novel product that to date has been 100 per cent animal and plastic-free. This financing round led by Clean Growth Fund will allow us to get to a finished material that we can begin selling to brands and put into consumers’ hands. I can’t wait to see others wearing it.”
Susannah McClintock, Investment Director of Clean Growth Fund, commented: “We are delighted to invest in Arda Biomaterials and support the commercial development of their work. Arda’s technology has the potential to disrupt traditional leather production and significantly reduce the environmental impact of highly polluting sectors. We look forward to working with Brett, Edward, and the team to help bring this exciting technology to market.”
Alongside the Clean Growth Fund, the £1.1 million investment comes from Plug and Play, Serpentine Ventures, Satgana, and a group of angel investors all hailing from the alternative protein, fashion, and climate tech ecosystem have invested. 
