Simplifyber

Simplifyber, a New York-based materials startup founded in 2020 by Maria Intscher-Owrang and Philip Cohen, is positioned to overhaul the soft goods manufacturing sector with its novel 3D-molding process. Intscher-Owrang, the CEO, brings over two decades of experience as a fashion designer and director for prominent brands like Vera Wang, Calvin Klein, and Alexander McQueen. Her journey into entrepreneurship was fueled by the observation that while additive manufacturing was transforming other industries, fashion lagged, prompting her to pioneer a more efficient and sustainable production method. Co-founder and COO, Phil Cohen, complements this with a background as a former military officer and a serial entrepreneur with an MIT Sloan MBA.

The company's core technology bypasses traditional textile production steps such as spinning, weaving, cutting, and sewing. Instead, it utilizes a proprietary liquid cellulose material, known as Fybron™, which is created in a lab from wood pulp and other plant-based materials. This liquid is injected into specially designed 3D molds to create fully-formed, seamless garments and shoe uppers in a single step, which are then dried. This additive manufacturing approach significantly reduces waste, cutting out an estimated 60% of production steps and eliminating the 35% of material that typically becomes waste in the conventional fashion supply chain. The resulting products are biodegradable and can be recycled like paper.

Simplifyber's business model targets the fashion, footwear, and potentially automotive industries by offering a cost-competitive alternative to polyester and other synthetic materials. The company collaborates with brands to produce goods, with its first major showcase being a shoe upper created with the brand GANNI, unveiled at Paris Fashion Week in September 2024. Having secured a total of $15.5M in funding, including a $3.5M seed round in 2022 and a $12M Series A round in April 2025 led by Suzano Ventures, Simplifyber is scaling its operations. The funding is allocated to enhancing its materials science and engineering capabilities, expanding manufacturing, and establishing pilot-scale facilities to approach cost parity with traditional textile production.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, sustainable fashion, 3D molding, cellulose fiber, biodegradable materials, Fybron, textile innovation, green manufacturing, circular economy, apparel technology, footwear manufacturing, direct-to-shape, waste reduction, plant-based textiles, advanced materials, Maria Intscher-Owrang, Phil Cohen, Suzano Ventures, At One Ventures, on-demand manufacturing, eco-friendly apparel, sustainable supply chain, biomaterials, cost-competitive sustainability, seamless garments