Founded in 2009, Bolt Threads develops spider-silk materials produced by engineered microorganisms. Its first commercial product was a $314 necktie launched in early 2017, and the company has partnerships with Patagonia and Stella McCartney and acquired Best Made Company. Bolt says it is the first to bring man-made spider silk to market and plans to continue refining its processes and pursuing additional brand partnerships and products slated for 2018. The company will use the new funding to continue development and commercialization of its microorganism-derived materials. Financially, Bolt has raised a total of $213 million to date, including the recent Series D. Bolt Threads has developed a method to brew spider silk and other insect-derived fibers and spin them into yarn, making those materials accessible to apparel and upholstery manufacturers. The company was co-founded in 2009 by CEO Dan Widmaier, Chief Scientific Officer David Breslauer and VP of Operations Ethan Mirsky. Bolt already manufactures its Engineered Silk protein at scale via outsourced manufacturing partners and plans to move into yarn manufacturing in the summer. The company said it has built much of the supply chain and is in the process of scaling up to bring products to market. Bolt also inked a deal with Patagonia to begin developing and designing products using its fibers, though specific product details were not disclosed. Investors and company leadership expect the biofabricated silks to become available in mainstream products by 2018. Bolt Threads engineers microbes to produce spider-silk proteins and spin them into high-performance fibers. The company says the material can be stronger than steel, softer than Merino wool, washable, dyeable and UV resistant, offering a sustainable alternative to polyester. Bolt is targeting textile and apparel applications and is working with large textile partners while also planning its own consumer product line. The team includes co-founder and CEO Dan Widmaier alongside scientists David Breslauer and Ethan Mirsky; the company had been operating in stealth prior to the raise. Bolt aims to commercialize scalable production of the fiber and bring cloth to both manufacturers and the public by 2016. The company positions the technology as a more eco-friendly solution for the clothing industry’s pollution and performance-fiber needs.

Total raised

$205M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series D

Latest activity

Jan 2018