Haïkel Balti and César Valencia Gallardo, founders of Faircraft ©Julien Hamel

A robust, versatile and functional material with a timeless aesthetic, whose products are associated with an image of quality: leather is one of the most appreciated materials in the fashion and luxury sector, also in furniture or automobiles.

However, the leather industry is often heavily criticized for its significant environmental impact and the ethical questions it raises. Conventional tanning processes (dehydrating hides and fixing chemical agents to make them rot-proof and suitable for manufacturing various products) generate significant pollution, while intensive livestock farming linked to leather production causes animal suffering and high greenhouse gas emissions. Consumers, increasingly sensitive to these issues (particularly Generation Z, which is expected to represent 40% of customers for fashion and luxury brands by 2035), are leading brands to question their practices and explore alternatives.

Prefer vegetable-based leather? Some brands have adopted it, but these types of leather, based on the use of plants or fungi, struggle to fully reproduce the characteristics of animal leather, particularly in terms of durability, feel, and aesthetics. To compensate, these plant-based materials require sometimes significant quantities of petroleum-based substances, such as polyurethane. A chemical pollutant that is difficult to recycle, the production of which also contributes significantly to harmful gas emissions, and the application of which can emit toxic fumes.

Faircraft's ambition: to become the world's leading supplier of responsible leather, without compromising on quality

Is an alternative to animal leather, without compromising on durability, appearance, texture, or wear resistance, possible? The answer is yes, and it has been developed by Faircraft. This innovative startup was co-founded in 2021 by Haïkel Balti (CEO), a materials science and mechanical engineering engineer, and César Valencia Gallardo (CTO), a PhD in biology specializing in biochemistry and cell biology, after they met through Entrepreneur First (a Parisian program that helps develop startup ideas and provides financial and strategic support). " I had a strong background in materials and understood the challenges of industrialization. César had extensive experience in several areas of biology, particularly in skin biology. We thought about how to produce skin on a large scale to make leather ," explains Haïkel Balti.

While the ethical and environmental benefits quickly became clear to them, their innovation still needed to be validated from a customer perspective. Having no background in these sectors, Haïkel Balti recounts that he personally approached the heads of fashion , leather goods, automotive, and furniture brands , as well as the executive committees of major luxury houses. " I received immediate responses from companies in very different fields. I realized there was a real need, a real desire to find a solution to environmental and ethical issues. But also a question of controlling the supply chain in a way that wasn't dependent on tanneries. " At the same time, César Valencia Gallardo began to determine how to implement their synthetic leather from a scientific standpoint. The duo organized themselves, eventually developing their manufacturing protocol in 24 months and launching the world's first handbag made entirely from lab-grown leather. An important milestone, proof of the concrete applications of their technology.

A manufacturing process not to imitate but to produce real skin

When asked about leather alternatives that have been on the market for the past fifteen years, the CEO countered that " what we like about leather is a certain number of characteristics that come from its structure and composition ." This is why the startup's founders didn't try to move away from animal hides, but rather to reproduce leather in vitro, then replicate traditional tanning processes, making them cleaner, while preserving the expertise that allows them to produce high-quality leather.

Technically, it all starts with a biopsy, the removal of a skin sample from an animal's body under local anesthesia, from which cells are extracted. These cells are then multiplied using a bioreactor, a device used to cultivate them in a controlled environment. Next, they are inoculated onto a substrate, where they form bonds of collagen (an essential protein responsible for the strength, flexibility, and cohesion of tissues) and elastin (another essential protein that works in tandem with collagen to maintain the elasticity and firmness of tissues, allowing them to regain their shape after being stretched or compressed). After several weeks, this structure can be tanned to obtain in vitro leather, which can then be worked by designers or in a manufacturing workshop " like any other leather ."

Beyond environmental and ethical values, could laboratory leather also be a selling point for many other players? The innovative scientific approach certainly seems to open up numerous opportunities and is undeniably a differentiating factor for certain geographic areas. " Some market studies show, for example, that the innovative approach is highly valued in Asia ," says Haïkel Balti.

A fundraising of 15 million euros to accelerate its development

Since 2021, Faircraft has been working to develop the technologies needed to develop in vitro skin for leather goods, and has successfully implemented its first manufacturing process. Currently, the company has the capacity to produce a few square meters of material each month, which is sufficient for capsule collections. Faircraft's ambition with this €15 million fundraising: to continue developing materials to adapt them for uses in specific fields, but above all to accelerate the industrialization of its company in order to produce larger volumes. A first factory is expected to open within three years.

Faircraft's shareholders include several foreign and French investors, notably Bpifrance's French Touch Capital fund. Regarding this, the entrepreneur states: " This shareholder base is important for us because we are an international company (20 people, engineers and scientists of 8 different nationalities, currently work at Faircraft), but also very French. Our primary market is France, and we rely on expertise that is very prevalent in France, which we also want to promote and develop. Having Bpifrance as a shareholder allows us to focus on a wide range of issues related to our market and our supply chain, while maintaining our international ambitions. "

The entrepreneur concluded by sharing his perspective on the ethical fashion market . For him, fashion remains closely linked to creativity and self-expression. To mitigate environmental and ethical impacts, he hopes brands will emphasize circularity and sustainability without penalizing the consumer. " That's where Faircraft comes in: creating much more efficient raw materials so that the end customer can continue to enjoy themselves in a far less impactful way. "