Brazilian pulp giant Suzano has taken a strategic next step in next-generation material innovation.
The eucalyptus pulper’s corporate venture capital arm announced it joined a $12 million Series A funding round for materials science startup, Simplifyber.
The investment follows Suzano’s late-February decision to suspend Spinnova support on the jointly owned Woodspin effort following the Finnish fiber firm’s failure to meet the terms outlined in a letter of intent inked last March.
“Every year we have evaluated hundreds of startups that are pushing forward the frontiers of what is possible with bio-based materials,” Suzano’s corporate venture capital senior manager Paula Puzzi said in a statement. “In this scenario, we believe that Simplifyber is very promising in this ecosystem since its pioneering approach has the potential to disrupt soft goods supply chains in sectors ranging from apparel to automotive.”
The micro-fibrillated cellulose developer led the round with At One Ventures, Plug and Play Sustainability Fund, One Small Planet, Staddle Holdings, Collateral Good, M.I.H. Capital, Overlay Capital and Meliorate Partners, among others, participating as well.
Maria Intscher-Owrang and Phil Cohen’s additive manufacturing (e.g., 3D printing) startup previously raised $3.5 million during its seed funding round in July 2022, led by its now repeat-backer, At One Ventures.
The San Francisco venture capitalist said Simplifyber “reinvents” soft good production with its patented, single-step process that “fully eliminates textile waste and water pollution from dyeing,” per the company’s online portfolio. Simplifyber, meanwhile, has previously said its solution “cuts out 60 percent of the steps,” such as spinning and weaving or cutting and sewing, and “reduces the 35 percent of materials” in fashion’s supply chain that ends up as waste.
“The result is 100 percent biobased molded material at cost parity with polyester,” reads At One Ventures’ landing page for the cleantech startup. “The company has begun several pilot projects with Fortune 500 brands to make biodegradable shoe uppers, handbags and even car interiors.”
Intscher-Owrang, a veteran design director turned cleantech cofounder and CEO, previously shared Simplifyber’s plans to disrupt the $25 billion global market for wovens and knit materials by manufacturing everyday items with its equally-novel, 3D-printed, cellulosic material, Fybron.
“Our world is over-reliant on fossil-based materials and our plant won’t support this for much longer,” Intscher-Owrang said. “Manufacturers and brands know this is the case and many are actively looking for alternatives—the demand is there; now, we need to rapidly scale solutions to meet the need.”
Enter Fybron: a proprietary fiber that can be injected into 3D molds to form soft goods, such as the textured upper of a shoe. This was made clear as the startup’s first product from this cellulose-based material debuted at Paris Fashion Week last September through its “Moon Shoe” collaboration with Ganni.
Fybron starts as a liquid derived from natural sources—things like recycled textiles, wood and paper. Once the Simplifyber manufacturing process is completed, the cellulose slurry is poured into molds to create those 3D-shaped soft goods. Ganni’s Spring/Summer 2025 runway presentation marked the “trailblazing” bio-fiber’s first collaboration with a fashion brand.
“We believe that the best way to reduce process waste and prevent plastics from ending up in the environment is to begin at the design stage, offering industries an innovative way to use bio-based materials, all while using significantly less energy and producing less waste,” Intscher-Owrang said.
As such, Simplifyber plans to build off the momentum of this collaboration and use the capital injection to scale-up production capabilities, build-out its team of 19, strengthen its science and engineering abilities and manufacturing breadth to enter new regions and sectors. That includes building out a pilot-scale facility to “bring the business closer” to cost parity with traditional textile production.
“Since we started our company, Suzano has been one of our main fiber suppliers, because they are one of the world’s most sustainable and efficient producers of bio-based feedstock,” Intscher-Owrang said. “This partnership will give us access to world-class expertise and support, helping us to reach new markets and accelerate our growth.”
The investment tracks against Suzano’s recent moves in the market. Last June, Suzano acquired a 15-percent stake in Lenzing for around $249 million (230 million euro) from B&C Group, the then-current majority stakeholder of the Vienna-based cellulosic fibers supplier.
“We are excited to play our part in the company’s development following the completion of this Series A round,” Puzzi said. “We believe [it] will create many new opportunities to replace fossil-based synthetic materials with sustainable, bio-based alternatives, in line with our purpose to meet society’s growing demand for environmentally friendly solutions.”
While Suzano leans into the whole “supply chain diversification” conversation, Spinnova initiated change negotiations in an attempt to structurally align against the struggling supplier’s “current development stage and the changed operating environment.”
Per an inside information bulletin sent early Friday morning, the change negotiation scope covers all Spinnova’s employees—except the executive management. The company’s preliminary estimations found that “measures that may be implemented after the change negotiations could lead to changes in teams and roles as well as temporary and permanent layoffs.”
These “estimated reductions” will affect a maximum of 35 people, Spinnova said, though the “exact details” of the extent and scope of layoffs will be determined during the negotiation process. Spinnova said it has 56 permanent employees.
