Dutch biotech startup Qorium has raised €22 million in new funding to expand its Maastricht facility and advance production of cultivated leather.
The round was led by Invest-NL and LIOF, alongside existing investors Brightlands Venture Partners and Sofinnova Partners. Invest-NL’s participation is supported by the European Commission’s InvestEU guarantee scheme, with additional contributions from private investors.
According to the company’s website, Qorium’s mission is to create beautiful, premium and authentic leather without compromise.
The company says that while leather is loved for its beauty and durability, traditional leather production remains polluting, challenging and controversial.
Qorium claims its technology can dramatically reduce the vast impacts of today’s leather industry without quality reductions.
Founded by Rutger Ploem, sustainability entrepreneur Stef Kranendijk and biotechnology pioneer Dr Mark Post, Qorium aims to combine science and craftsmanship to reinvent how leather is made.
The company’s process begins with a small, harmless skin biopsy taken from a donor cow. From these cells, Qorium grows collagen sheets in bioreactors, which are later processed into full thickness leather.
Qorium’s website explains that by removing the cow from leather production, the company’s material has minimal climate impacts, low water and chemical usage, no land use, no animal impacts. It describes its approach as a way to build better product, better planet.
They claim its cultivated leather maintains all the beauty, durability and character of natural leather. It also claims that, unlike synthetic substitutes, its material improves and enriches over time.
Qorium also highlights its focus on consistency, explaining that cow-derived leather often varies in quality, leading to as much as 75% material wastage. In contrast, Qorium says its cultivated leather is consistent, reliable and uniform.
The company also notes that its leather can be tunable engineered to meet the specific performance and aesthetic requirements of different applications, from fashion to automotive interiors.
Qorium partners with leading tanneries and global brands to turn its lab grown collagen into finished leather. The company says its product seamlessly integrates into the existing leather production process, allowing manufacturers to adopt the new material without disrupting established supply chains.
With this latest funding, Qorium plans to expand its bioreactor capacity and move toward commercial scale production. The company believes its work demonstrates how biotechnology can reduce the environmental footprint of materials while maintaining the qualities that make leather desirable.
