Solena Materials awarded €1.4 million joint Eureka Eurostars funding to scale
WestTech London’s Solena Materials and its partner The Protein Express have been awarded €1.4 million in funding through the Eureka Eurostars programme.
The new Eureka Eurostars funding will support the EXPREST collaboration — a joint project combining Solena’s AI-driven protein design with The Protein Express’ industrial-scale fermentation platform to bring high-performance, novel protein fibres to market at scale.
Solena Materials is creating new bio-based fibres using AI and computational design to develop de novo protein sequences with precisely tuned performance characteristics. In the EXPREST project, these designs are being combined with The Protein Express’s production system to enable scalable, economically viable manufacturing. The first applications target premium and performance apparel, with the broader goal of building a scalable materials platform that reduces dependence on fossil‑derived inputs across the textile industry.
Solena Materials, which began its journey in White City Innovation District’s White City Deep Tech Campus, is now scaling in WestTech London’s Old Oak Innovation Cluster at Grapht Works – London’s first dedicated facility for pilot and demonstration advanced manufacturing.
Dr James MacDonald, CEO and Co-Founder of Solena Materials, commented: “We are delighted to be working with The Protein Express/BioscienZ on EXPREST. This collaboration brings together computational protein design and industrial-scale production to address one of the key barriers facing protein-based textiles: manufacturability at scale. Together, we are progressing a new class of fibres from development towards genuine commercial readiness.”
