Bio-based Silk Producer Snags $27M in Latest Financing Round

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AMSilk, the world’s first industrial supplier of vegan silk biopolymers, has secured an additional $27 million in extended Series C financing.

The round was led by ATHOS (AT Newtec), which already has a stake in AMSilk, with participation from Novo Holding, Cargill and MIG Capital.

AMSilk procured the financing to scale to meet increasing demand for its products, which are based on silk proteins made to produce bio-fabricated materials used in the apparel market.

In addition to synthetic silk, other strong, chemical-free, biodegradable materials coming onto the market include leather alternatives, those derived from mushrooms and another customizable composite made from plant-based waste such as cork powder, rice hulls and coconut fiber.  Stella McCartney has used a number of fungi-based textiles, while Adidas has made lightweight, high-performance shoes from AMSilk’s synthetic silk biopolymers.

Ulrich Scherbel, CEO of AMSilk, reinforced the mission of the company to provide environmentally friendly, biodegradable textiles to the fashion industry, as well as cosmetics and medical products, including implants.

“We are delighted to have closed this successful financing round which validates our technology and underpins our ongoing development as we scale up and expand our commercial operations,” he said. “We will invest in technology to ensure that we continue to provide innovative, attractive solutions to our customers, and improve the commercial supply of our products to expand our business.”

This is AMSilk’s second round of financing in two years. An earlier round, in May, 2021, was lead by Novo Growth, the growth equity arm of Novo Holdings which invested $25.26 million, and included ATHOS KG, Cargill, MIG Verwaltungs AG, and E.R. Capital Holdings. AMSilk is based in Planegg, Germany.