BioFluff, which makes plant-based “fur” for jackets and stuffed animals, named as interim CEO Luke Henning, chairman of the corporate’s board since 2023. He comes from Circ, a textile-to-textile recycler making headway amongst attire manufacturers.
Henning joins BioFluff, headquartered in Paris and New York Metropolis, because it pursues $2.5 million in pre-Sequence A funding. The small, 3-year-old firm has grand ambitions to displace conventional, high-carbon supplies for attire and toys with options made with hemp, nettles and flax.
“Their mission of no animals, no oil, no compromise, I discover inspiring,” Henning informed Trellis. “BioFluff has the potential to not solely scale back the demand for specifically farmed fur animals but additionally the quantity of oil we use for fur options.”
BioFluff has raised over $3 million, final in 2023 with a seed spherical of $2.5 million led by Brussels-based B Company Astanor Ventures.
“I couldn’t have requested for a greater accomplice within the journey to revolutionize the textile trade in style, inside and toys,” wrote BioFluff Co-founder and Chief Business Officer Roni Gamzon on LinkedIn on Oct. 17.
From polycotton to ‘consolation supplies’
With Henning as chief enterprise officer of Circ for a dozen years, the Danville, Virginia, firm constructed up model partnerships with H&M, Zara and Birla Cellulose, drawn partially for Circ’s functionality to recycle polyester in addition to wood- or plant-based supplies. As Henning led collaborations with manufacturers and different companions, Circ in January kicked off the Fiber Membership partnership with Vogue for Good and Cover to advance round supplies. Eileen Fisher, Everlane, Bestseller and Arvind are additionally concerned.
“My expertise in scaling sustainable onerous tech, centered on sustainable textiles, interprets effectively to this subsequent stage of development at BioFluff,” mentioned Henning. “My community consists of most of the events that BioFluff is already related to and a few past.”
Henning succeeds CEO Martin Stübler, a BioFluff co-founder who left in August for an undisclosed startup.
“Luke Henning has gained the admiration of purchasers, buyers and provide chain in his earlier roles,” mentioned Paul Foulkes-Arellano, founding father of Circuthon Consulting in London and an authentic investor in BioFluff. “He is aware of precisely find out how to allure buyers, construct provide chain contracts and convey the world’s greatest manufacturers on board.”
A luxurious market
BioFluff is among the many early gamers searching for to scale sustainable “consolation supplies,” which it sources and makes in Europe with out poisonous chemical substances or genetic modifications.
The corporate’s Savian “fur” has appeared in a purse by Ganni of Denmark and a fuzzy coat by Stella McCartney. The $543 billion marketplace for non-animal fur will rise to $1,831 billion by 2032, in accordance with Maximize Market Analysis.
BioFluff’s BioPlush materials would enter a stuffed toys market set to increase from $11.8 billion in 2023 to $20 billion in 2030, in accordance with Grand View Analysis. The corporate can also be eyeing the house interiors market.
Twin grasp’s levels
For eight years, Henning was a senior supervisor at KPMG Monetary Threat Administration in Cape City.
Whereas ending an MBA on the College of Oxford, he helped to discovered a seed fund for scholar and alumni startups. Henning additionally holds a grasp’s in monetary administration from the College of Cape City, after finishing his undergraduate work on the College of Pretoria.
“Whereas I by no means say by no means, my focus is closing the funding and searching for the very best candidate for the function of full time CEO,” Henning mentioned.
