Keio’s synthetic silk producer increased its valuation to over $1.2bn in a round led by Carlyle Japan Partners.

Spiber, a Japan-based synthetic biomaterial developer spun out of Keio University, raked in ¥34.4bn ($312m) in funding led by private equity firm Carlyle’s fund Carlyle Japan Partners yesterday. Fidelity, Cool Japan Fund and Baillie Gifford also participated. The round valued the spinout at more than $1.2bn post-money. Founded in 2007, Spiber produces synthetic silk and other materials using synthetic proteins with no need for the spiders and silkworms usually required. The company is looking to capitalise on a growing market for sustainable textiles and will put the proceeds of the round into accelerating its expansion and commercialisation plans. The round follows several injections of corporate cash over the past few years, the most recent of which was involved food processor and commodities trader ADM in October 2020 with an investment of undisclosed size, building on a similarly undisclosed amount in December 2019. Textile trading company Toyoshima also invested an undisclosed amount in Spiber, in May 2020, through a joint research agreement. It had quickly followed industrial machine manufacturer Ebara’s $9.5m injection two months earlier. Cool Japan Fund contributed to a $44m round in 2018, following $14.1m of capital from automotive component manufacturer Toyota Boshuko and insurance firm Dai-Chi Life had in 2017. The spinout had earlier secured $88.7m in a 2015 round backed by sportswear manufacturer Goldwin. Its other investors reportedly include Keio University and Jafco Ventures. – A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.

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Fernando Moncada Rivera

Fernando Moncada Rivera is a reporter at Global Corporate Venturing and also host of the CVC Unplugged podcast.