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ALT TEX

ALT TEX

Biodegradable and carbon neutral textiles, engineered from food waste.

ALT TEX is a Toronto-based biomaterials startup that has developed the world’s first biodegradable and carbon neutral fabric, engineered from the world’s largest landfill contributor - food waste. Polyester alone makes up 60% of the $2.5 trillion fashion industry and is the biggest blocker preventing brands from meeting sustainability mandates. The patent-pending ALT TEX fermentation technology creates a polyester alternative that works with the existing infrastructure to supply a sustainable, high performance and cost competitive polyester replacement to fashion brands, at scale. The product solves key problems for fashion brands, consumers, and the environment: (1) Fashion brands: ALT TEX sells fabric to fashion brands, allowing them to differentiate via sustainable options (sustainable fashion growing 11% CAGR) and hit sustainability targets, without sacrificing performance or changing their current supply chain. (2) Consumer: The ALT TEX fabric is projected to be half the price vs. other specialized sustainable alternatives (due to low-cost input and scalability), meaning greater accessibility. (3) Environment: A single shirt produced with ALT TEX fabric can divert 1 kg of food waste from landfills, 9 kg of carbon emissions from the air, and 4 g of micro-plastics from our waterways. Co-founders Myra and Avneet have worked together managing teams and projects for six years, with backgrounds in serial entrepreneurship, corporate sales at Fortune 500 companies, textile manufacturing and biochemistry. To date, ALT TEX has created their first fabric prototype that’s 70% stronger than cotton, secured $1M in LOIs and raised $2.3M.

Company Launches

ALT TEX: Fabric made from food waste 🍎👕

Biodegradable, carbon neutral, cost competitive and high performance fabrics, engineered from the world’s largest landfill contributor - food waste.
Read Launch ›
ALT TEX
Founded:2020
Team Size:10
Location:Toronto, Canada

Active Founders

Myra Arshad

Hey, I'm Myra - Co-founder and CEO of ALT TEX. Coming from a family background in textile manufacturing, I'm disrupting the $2.5 trillion fashion industry with better and more sustainable materials. Prior to ALT TEX, I held corporate roles in sales and marketing at Fortune 500 companies, before founding fluidic – a direct to consumer lifestyle brand. Prior to fluidic, I built FarmBox, a Hult Prize backed, AI micro-farming technology that enabled food sustainability in refugee camps.

Myra Arshad
Myra Arshad
ALT TEX

Avneet Ghotra

Hi, I'm Avneet! Co-founder and CTO of ALT TEX. I left medical school to build ALT TEX. With education and research background in biochemistry & environmental science, I lead the R&D behind ALT TEX’s food waste to fabric mission. Prior to medical school & ALT TEX, I founded Approaching Zero, a non-profit dedicated to reducing plastic pollution through production of reusable cotton produce bags. Continuing that vision, I am now building a global solution for fashion's polyester pollution.

Avneet Ghotra
Avneet Ghotra
ALT TEX