The idea for the water-repellent yarn originated in 2020 during Alexandra's master's degree in textile technology at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences. She discovered that a water-repellent effect found in nature had not yet bee nutilised in the textile industry and researched ways in which this effect could be transferred to textiles. After initial successful trials, Alexandra set out to find a co-founder to help her bring the technology to market.
Exist research transfer programme
Starting in spring 2022, Sarah and Alexandra worked on an application for the Exist research transfer programme along side their full-time jobs in order to finance the necessary development of the filament.
The projectis so promising that Sarah and Alexandra have received €1.84 million in funding. The money comes from the ‘EXIST – Start-ups from Science’ fundingprogramme of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection.
The Exist project then started at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences inSeptember 2023. Alexandra and Sarah will develop the filament together with Melanie and Maike over a period of 30 months.
