Company: Radiant Matter
Location: London
Founded: 2020
Founders: Elissa Brunato (CEO) and Dr Cyan Williams (CTO)
Written by: Ariyana Rayatt
Edited by: Natasha Barrow and Caroline Babisz
The climate emergency has many contributing components, with pollutants being one of them. A well-known pollutant is microplastics. Entering the environment and waterways, microplastics impact the ecosystems and health of the surrounding areas and communities. In a world littered with plastic, there are many contributing industries however textiles is one of the largest contributors with oil-derived fibres, fastenings and embellishments like glitter and sequins.
These sparkly offenders are contributors to microplastic pollution, with glitter found to be the third most common particle found in water waste in Australia. After a Christmas season in the U.K 1.7 million sequined garments were thrown into landfill [2,3]. The widespread prevalence and impact of microplastics have driven innovators to create alternatives. Radiant Matter, a London-based startup, aims to bring a sustainable option for colourful components like sequins and glitter to the fashion industry. Looking to nature and recognising the vibrant colours in hummingbirds or morpho butterflies created by structural colour, Radiant Matter has innovated a sequin that leverages the same technology.
Structural colour is the bright colour that results when light is refracted off the nanostructure of a material. In the case of Radiant Matter, this material is cellulose. The principle can be manipulated to create a multitude of colours. The company’s current focus is understanding the pain points of the textile industry and building a comprehensive solution accordingly. Elissa (CEO) highlighted the company’s goal is to produce a high-performing product that is less resource-intensive and more ethical than traditional plastic-based products.
To demonstrate the possibilities Radiant Matter has to offer, the company collaborated with sustainable-conscious fashion brand Stella McCartney. This partnership manifested a Vogue cover featuring a jumpsuit adorned with Radiant Matter’s BioSequin™, a glittering cellulose embellishment component, worn by Cara Delavine and was on display at COP28. Alignment surrounding sustainability and environmental health made this a fitting first partnership to support Radiant Matter as they strengthened their understanding of the commercial industry need.
The two founding partners Elissa Brunato (CEO) and Dr Cyan Williams (CTO), mark Radiant Matter as a unique player in this sustainable alternatives field. Between the two, they have two feet in both the fashion and photonics world.
Having worked in the textiles industry for 10 years Elissa, has a strong knowledge and understanding of manufacturing, industrial supply chains and the journey plastic travels in a product's production. Armed with this knowledge, Elissa can guide the vision of future products and the company’s development. Meanwhile, Dr Williams’ background provides the scientific expertise to harness structural colour. Having completed her PhD in the use of cellulose nanocrystals for photonic materials, Cyan's critical technical knowledge in structural colour is essential for the development of Radiant Matter’s materials to attain the desired properties.
It was Elissa's fruitless search in the textiles industry for a sustainable alternative to sequins and glitter that led her to a master's where she would produce her first material samples with structural colour. Following the surge of interest from industries ranging from fashion to automotive, Elissa founded Radiant Matter and was later joined by Cyan. Together they are now propelling Radiant Matter forward with the mission of replacing petroleum-based products with their complementary expertise.
Radiant Matter has recently closed their pre-seed round with £1.2 million, backed by the likes of Sustainable Ventures, Ada Ventures, Evenlode Impact Ltd, Martlet Capital Ltd, and the Cambridge Angels group. Now the biotech company has shifted their attention from fundraising to development and building their team. The next goal for the materials company is to address the growing demand for sustainable colour-effect materials across various industries and focus on product development.
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