Allbirds, a sustainability-focused footwear and apparel brand, announced that the company invested USD 2 million in Natural Fiber Welding (NFW), a producer of textile and leather materials from recycled plants and natural fibers.

Through the investment, Allbirds plans to offer customers a vegan leather replacement option for its footwear offerings by December 2021. Furthermore, the investment could also lead to Allbirds using NFW’s plant-based materials to manufacture other products, including socks, shoes, t-shirts, underwear, sweaters, jackets, and face masks.

Founded in 2015, NFW uses natural raw material to produce Mirum, a plant-based leather that has a similar look and feel to conventional leather. However, unlike other plant-based leather alternatives, the product does not use plastic resins, glues, or coatings, making it 100% free of petroleum-based plastic. In addition to Mirum, the company operates through the brand “Clarus,” which produces high-performance material from recycled cotton. Following the current investment by Allbirds, NFW’s total funding now amounts to approximately USD 15 million. 

Allbirds crafts its products using a range of regenerative natural materials. The company, which initially operated as an online-based business, had expanded into 35 countries, with 21 brick-and-mortar stores worldwide by August 2020. Allbirds’s proprietary innovation, SweetFoam, is a sugarcane-based alternative to the petroleum-based foam used in footwear manufacturing. By August 2020, more than 100 companies had inquired about incorporating the material in their supply chains.