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LeQara, MII Next-gen Materials, Next-gen Leather, Alternative Leather, Microbe-derived Leather.
Le Qara
Material Name: 

n/a

Biomimicry: 

Leather

Main Input: 

Microbe-derived

Founded: 

2017

HQ: 

Peru

TRL: 

2/5

Founder(s): 

Jacqueline L. Cruz, Isemar Cruz

Website: 

https://leqara.com/

About the Company

Le Qara, “leather” in Quechua, an indigenous Andean language, was founded in 2018 by sisters Jacqueline and Isemar Cruz. They won the H&M Foundation’s 2019 Global Change Award for their bioleather. In May 2020, the company was a finalist in the launch category of the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. Le Qara has filed for patents for its bioleather process and for the product composition and expects to achieve industrial scale production in mid-2022.

Material

Le Qara is a leather-like biotextile made via microbial fermentation.

Technology

Le Qara appears to be cellulose fermented by microorganisms. Local plant waste is used as the growth medium and the process takes between 30 and 70 days. According to the company, Le Qara can be engineered to have various textures, thicknesses, and levels of flexibility. The company describes their material as high quality, high resistance, and breathable.

Applications

Prototype Le Qara handbag.

Selected Brand Partnerships

None currently known.

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LeQara, MII Next-gen Materials, Next-gen Leather, Alternative Leather, Microbe-derived Leather.

Prototype handbag.

Images: LeQara.

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