Supercarb transforms carbohydrate biomass into tunable, high-performance, biodegradable fibers. These breakthrough fibers allow fashion and industrial brands to boost revenue while achieving unprecedented sustainability. Supercarb fortifies the US textile industry and enhances human health by eliminating toxic, bioaccumulating chemicals, offering a significant leap forward in novel biomaterials.
FELLOWS
Hitesh Manglani
Hitesh Manglani is co-founder and CEO of Supercarb Inc., a performance textiles company. Previously at a venture-backed food startup, Manglani commercialized the science of novel protein fibers for plant-based meat to the market in record time. Before that, he led R&D at a South Carolina textile mill for three years, managing a technical textile portfolio worth $11M. Manglani is on a mission to replace synthetic fibers from the textile industry through his subject matter expertise.
Rakkiyappan Chandran
Rakkiyappan Chandran is the former co-founder and CTO of Supercarb Inc., where he led pioneering efforts to convert carbohydrates from waste feedstocks into innovative biodegradable fibers. He holds a Ph.D. in nanoscience from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and has extensive experience in textile and additive manufacturing. Chandran honed his expertise through research roles at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and MIT.
TECHNOLOGY
Critical Need
The textile industry, valued at $2T, is largely dominated by cotton and polyester, which comprise 76 percent of the market. However, both fibers come with their own set of challenges. Cotton production is both water- and chemical-intensive, while synthetic insecticides and pesticides used in its production contaminate soil and water sources. Meanwhile, polyester, derived from fossil fuels, is non-biodegradable, emits a consequential amount of CO2, and contributes to the growing problem of ocean microplastic pollution. These issues are projected to worsen with a predicted 27 percent increase in worldwide fiber production by 2030.
Technology Vision
Supercarb converts polysaccharides from waste biomass into high-performance, low-impact, and cost-competitive fibers. Carbohydrate-rich sources such as discarded seaweed and citrus peel waste allow Supercarb to create novel carbon-neutral fibers, and advanced manufacturing methods and biomimetic nanostructures enable an infinitely tunable biodegradable product.
Supercarb fibers offer superior inherent performance properties compared to legacy fibers, including fire retardancy, antimicrobial, antifungal, antistatic, and high moisture-wicking capabilities. This allows fashion and industrial textile brands to eliminate downstream toxic chemicals while offsetting processing steps and related costs at the fabric stage. Supercarb enables textile brands to increase their revenue and sustainability impact significantly.
Potential for Impact
Each year, Supercarb’s technology will help create carbon-neutral products that will prevent 167B liters of fresh water usage, 70 tonnes of microplastic from being released, and 2.69M trees from being cut down. Supercarb’s technology will save natural resources at a gigaton scale when deployed industry-wide. Beyond its vast environmental impact, Supercarb will continue to benefit the United States in its efforts to create domestic textile supply chains, reduce the country’s reliance on foreign resources, and improve human health and safety by eliminating bioaccumulating toxic chemicals linked to endocrine disruption, thyroid dysfunction, and cancer.
Website
Supercarb