#Yarn & Fiber

2022-07-28

Insempra announces strategic investment in Solena materials

Insempra, a biology-powered company enabling businesses to make superior products in partnership with nature, today announces a strategic investment in Solena Materials Ltd (‘Solena’), a synthetic biology company. Solena, a spin-out from Imperial College London, develops synthetic proteins for high-performance clothing fibers.

Strategic investment to support the foundation of Solena Materials, a spin-out from Imperial College London, accelerating the development of synthetic fibers for high-performance, intrinsically sustainable clothing

The investment will allow Insempra, formerly Origin.Bio, to accelerate its strategy of harnessing new technologies to advance biological production processes, creating naturally superior products to drive the regenerative revolution. Solena will be a major part of Insempra’s platform to deliver high-performance, intrinsically sustainable ingredients for a broad array of industries.

Solena is using computational design to develop new classes of synthetic proteins to produce high-performance clothing fibers, which can absorb large amounts of kinetic energy. Insempra will accelerate the development and production of these synthetic proteins on an industrial scale, offering better, biobased solutions to the petrochemically sourced, non-biodegradable materials or fibers extracted from nature or animals, such as silk, currently used in the textile and clothing industries. This technology also reduces other environmental impacts such as the rise of microplastics in water bodies coming from washing petrochemically-sourced textiles.

Jens Klein, founder and CEO of Insempra and CEO of Solena Materials, commented: “We are hugely excited by this investment in Solena, which will help to accelerate our market-first approach to develop superior, intrinsically sustainable ingredients. We look forward to fast-tracking Solena’s development and production of their unique synthetic proteins to develop customized, high-performance fibers for a variety of applications.”

Dr James MacDonald, inventor, co-founder and CTO of Solena Materials, added: “The team and I are very excited to make this technology a huge success.”

Professor Paul Freemont of Imperial College London, added: “This investment from Insempra recognizes the potential of our technology to revolutionize high-performance fabrics, and their supply chains. Together, we can harness our synthetic biology capabilities to develop, produce and manufacture a new class of superior, more sustainable fiber technology.”

Insempra, a co-founder of Solena, will be the sole contributing shareholder in Solena, which is based at Imperial College’s Translation & Innovation Hub (I-HUB) in White City, London. Solena’s Board will be comprised of Dr James MacDonald of Solena, Professor Paul Freemont and Professor Milo Shaffer of Imperial College London, and Jens Klein and Andreas Heyl of Insempra.

“Production is a product”

From technical textiles and AI-driven robotics to the limitations of textile circularity: Professor Dr Thomas Gries looks back on more than two decades of development at ITA Aachen. In the interview, he explains why production technology remains a decisive success factor, discusses international collaborations and innovation ecosystems, and shares his views on the transformation of production landscapes and the challenges facing an increasingly regulated industry.

“We need to move away from the price trap and return to a value-driven mindset.”

With its new Textile Innovation Center, KARL MAYER is sending a strong signal for innovation, collaboration, and the future of textile applications. In this interview, Karl Josef Mayer discusses new opportunities in warp knitting, the processing of staple fibres, recycling, the changing role of machinery manufacturers, and why the textile industry must once again focus more strongly on the value of textiles. by Oliver Schmidt

“Innovation, resilience and international experience remain the great strengths of the Swiss textile machinery industry”

Geopolitical uncertainty, growing competitive pressure from China, new free trade agreements and the shift towards a circular economy are currently reshaping the global textile industry. In this interview, Cornelia Buchwalder discusses the current mood within the Swiss textile machinery sector, the industry’s distinctive innovative strength, new market opportunities in India and Asia, and the technological trends that could shape the upcoming trade fair cycle leading up to ITMA 2027.

Sorona® and WGSN announce top bio-based material trends of 2027

Sorona®, the partially bio-based polymer from Covation Biomaterials (CovationBio™), and global trend forecasting authority WGSN today release the material trends shaping the textile industry through 2027 and beyond following a comprehensive examination of bio-based functional fiber applications and global data.

Yarn Expo Shenzhen 2026 closes doors, advancing sustainable and innovative sourcing in South China

Yarn Expo Shenzhen 2026 served as a strategically positioned mid-year sourcing platform for the Greater Bay Area, highlighting Shenzhen’s role in connecting regional demand, supply and innovation exchange across the textile value chain. During the three-day fair, over 20,000 visits were drawn from 74 countries and regions[1], as exhibitors and buyers engaged with new developments in greener, performance-led, and value-added yarn and fibre solutions. Held in conjunction with Intertextile Shenzhen Apparel Fabrics and PH Value, the fair underscored the benefits of closer synergy and new materials across yarn, fabric and apparel platforms for the South China market.

Networking Day 2026: Industry stakeholders unite around textile recycling

In 2026, the Industry Research Group (IRG) Polymer Recycling once again brought together some of the key stakeholders in textile recycling for its annual Networking Day. This year, the event took place at EREMA’s premises in Ansfelden, Austria. It brought together key players from across the textile recycling value chain for a day of structured exchange and in-depth discussions.

The new RDJ 7/3 defines the design footprint of modern athletic shoes

Stylish, functional, and efficient to produce – spacer fabrics are the all-arounders among textile materials. These versatile fabrics are particularly in demand in the sports and casual footwear sector, as they combine comfort, breathability, and design freedom. At the same time, this industry is trend-driven, dynamic, and price-sensitive like few others. Innovations are therefore a decisive factor for success. With the RDJ 7/3, KARL MAYER offers a solution specifically tailored to these requirements. The particular strength of the new double raschel machine: its exceptional flexibility, thanks to its three jacquard bars.

Smart textiles reversibly change shape in an energy-efficient manner in response to ambient temperature

Self-actuating textile structures are used in a wide range of applications, such as medical technology, automation, architecture, agriculture, and the apparel industry. An example is the use of shading nets in greenhouses, which can be deployed and retracted depending on the sunlight intensity. The German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research Denkendorf (DITF) are developing textiles based on shape-memory polymers with reversibly controllable geometry.