Uppsala spider-silk startup ArtSilk wins €200,000 H&M Foundation grant
What's the deal? ArtSilk, an Uppsala startup making textile fibres from biomimetic artificial spider silk, has won a €200,000 grant as one of 10 winners of H&M Foundation's Global Change AwardDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → 2026. Founded by SLU professor Anna Rising and biochemist Benjamin Schmuck, the company uses microorganisms to produce fibres inspired by spider silk.
What's the endgame? The grant funds the step from fibre in kilogram quantities to yarn, textile prototypes, and industrial production. In May, the Uppsala lab installed a multifilament spinning machine that spins several thin fibres into yarn at once.
Why now? The next hurdle is producing sample material and the performance data brands and suppliers need to assess the fibre. "Now we can go from showing what the material could do to showing what it actually does," said Rising.
What comes next? The award includes a place in the year-long GCA Changemaker Programme, run with Accenture, KTH, and The Mills Fabrica. In January, ArtSilk travels to Vietnam for factory visits and meetings with suppliers to learn how a new fibre fits into existing production.
What could go wrong? The industrial case depends on scale, and ArtSilk frames it conditionally: if the technology scales without losing quality, it could give the industry a fibre made with less resource-intensive processes. The announcement gives no figures for production volumes, cost per kilo, or fibre performance.
The signal: The €200,000 is a non-dilutive grant, not a venture round — validation and development support rather than proof of commercial scale. It places ArtSilk within a wider push to commercialise lower-impact textiles, alongside efforts such as RubiDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s $7.5 million round for carbon-derived fibres and a $34 million Bezos Earth FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → commitment to next-generation textile innovation.
Read more: scandinavianmind.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
