plant-based-materials
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UNLESS Built a Sneaker That Turns Into Dirt - Then Sold the Idea to Under Armour for $10.3 Million
The Portland startup worked backward from the compost pile, replacing the glue, foam, thread and hidden plastic that make ordinary clothes linger. Its useful lesson is less about green marketing than designing the return route before the first product ships.
Maria Intscher-Owrang
Maria Intscher-Owrang is the co-founder and CEO of Simplifyber, a Raleigh-area materials startup that molds cellulose-based liquid directly into finished textile and composite parts, eliminating spinning, weaving, cutting and sewing. After more than two decades designing for Vera Wang, Calvin Klein, Dirk Bikkembergs and Alexander McQueen, she left luxury fashion to rebuild manufacturing from the fiber up, landing partnerships with GANNI and Kia and a $12M Series A led by Suzano Ventures.
Vericool Inc.
Vericool is a Livermore, California packaging manufacturer that makes plant-based, curbside-recyclable and compostable thermal shippers designed to replace Styrofoam (EPS foam) in cold-chain shipping. Founded in 2015 by Darrell Jobe, the company builds insulated coolers and liners from recycled paper fiber and other renewable materials, sells to food-service, grocery, meal-delivery and pharmaceutical customers, and is known for a second-chance hiring model that employs formerly incarcerated people.