Exclusive: H&M wants to make clothing from CO2 using this startup's tech | TechCrunch

Last day to exhibit your breakthrough to 10,000+ tech leaders at Disrupt is on Oct 2. Book Exhibit Table Now. Disrupt doors open Oct. 13. Get your pass and bring someone with you at 50% off. REGISTER NOW. The fashion industry knows it has a waste problem. About one garbage truck of textiles is thrown away every second. Meanwhile, the industry generates more carbon pollution than international flights and maritime shipping combined. Some companies are experimenting with new ways to recycle textile waste, while others are developing new materials that won’t require fossil fuels. One startup, Rubi, is “basically taking the machinery of biology outside of the cell” to make the building blocks of lyocell and viscose, co-founder and CEO Neeka Mashouf told TechCrunch. The startup’s technology would allow any company that uses cellulose to build products from captured carbon dioxide. Rubi recently raised $7.5 million to build a demonstration scale of its cellulosic production system, which is designed to produce tens of tons of material using CO2 as its main ingredient. The round was led by AP Ventures and FH One Investments, with participation from CMPC Ventures, H&M Group, Talis Capital,