CO2 to Cellulose Startup Secures Funding

1 day ago
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Rubi, the company behind pioneering enzyme-based technology that transforms carbon dioxide (CO2) into cellulose fibers for use in apparel and other industries, has announced a $7.5 million funding round and significant commercial traction, including multi-year offtake term sheets worth over $60 million with leading fashion brands and manufacturers, eight new commercial partnerships, and moving pilots into larger-scale production testing.

The funding announcement follows a breakthrough year of commercial validation for Rubi. In 2025, the company:

Signed multi-year offtake term sheets worth over $60 million with leading fashion brands and manufacturers.
More than doubled its commercial partnerships from seven (including Walmart and Reformation) to 15.
Completed successful fiber performance testing with multiple partners.
Entered new pilots with major partners in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) and aerospace industries, expanding its impact beyond textiles.

"We started Rubi with the vision that cell-free, multi-enzyme pathways would unlock efficient, scalable, high-performance manufacturing for critical materials from CO2," said Neeka Mashouf, Co-Founder and CEO of Rubi. "We've now demonstrated this technology scales effectively and meets or exceeds customer product standards, driving an inflection point of commercialization. The fresh funding will accelerate our scaling and growth to meet strong global demand for modular and affordable manufacturing of essential materials from waste carbon across textile, CPG, aerospace, and chemicals verticals."

The technology behind this breakthrough is Rubi's proprietary cell-free enzyme platform, which represents a fundamental shift in how critical materials are manufactured. Unlike traditional fermentation or chemical processes, Rubi's technology uses cascades of specialized enzymes to transform abundant carbon molecules like CO2 into complex materials like cellulose polymers. This approach enables production that is both more efficient and more flexible than conventional methods, achieving advanced tunability and performance in the end materials. AI and ML-based enzyme engineering strongly complements Rubi’s cell-free platform to continually advance enzyme performance, yielding gains in cost and productivity that can be immediately realized.