Innovations for Textile Dyeing

The last post “Dyes of the Beholder” on April 26^th introduced a new series on textile dyes, an industry fraught with environmental abuses and energy inefficiency.  The post included a short list of textile dye producers, including a several names well known to investors.  For those investors not content to put precious capital to work in the second most polluting industry in the world, this post is a look at investment opportunities in sustainable dyes.

Indeed, much progress has been made beyond the synthetic dyes that took over the textile market two centuries ago.  Natural colors extracted from biodegradable plant sources is an obvious alternative, taking textile dyes back to the beginning on an industrial scale.  Recycled fibers and textile are also a source of pigment dye for new fabrics.  Developers thinking well outside the dye vat have even put microorganisms to work in the coloring process.

Following are two companies offering alternatives to conventional dyeing processes.

Ecofoot has developed technology that reduces the amount of hydrolysed dye that does not fix to the fibers during dyeing.   Based on nanotechnology, Ecofoot’s H2Color is used in conventional dying equipment and requires no adjustment to the production process.  The company claims H2Color can help save up to 60% of the water and 60% of the energy usually needed to dye cottons, denims and cotton polyester blends.  The company’s pitch to textile manufactures is the potential to save as much as 30% of usual water and energy costs.

Founded in 2012 in Portugal, Ecofoot has raised seed capital from Armilar Venture Partners after having been spun out of the University of Minho.  For U.S. investors, language could be a barrier to getting involved with this company as an investor.  However, with some and greater exposure to the market, the company may widen its search for financial support.

Another privately held company Officina+39 offers a growing portfolio of dyestuffs, pigments, enzymes, and chemicals for treating denim and other textiles.  In August 2020, the company introduced a waterless dyeing gel that does not use water in the process.  It is compatible with any type pigment and leads to a highly sustainable textile.

Importantly Officina+39 products have received certification by the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals Foundation.  Its mission is to encourage industry to reduce chemical footprint.  The ZDHC certification should catch the attention of clothing brands, chemical suppliers and textile dyers who have been approached and may even already collaborate with the ZDHC Foundation.

Based in Italy, Officina+39 has a small profile with only a couple dozen employees.  It has only a five-year history but is well positioned for high-volume production and sales as its business development effort reaches out to clothing brands.

These two examples provide an important lesson for investors who want in on innovation in the textile industry.  Many of the players will be small and privately held, leaving out nearly all but qualified investors.

 

Conventional manufacturers are not to be left out of the textile industry transformation.  In the next post we look at developers of technology that bring efficiency to the textile dye process.

 

Neither the author of the Small Cap Strategist web log, Crystal Equity Research nor its affiliates have a beneficial interest in the companies mentioned herein.