CO2BioClean and the EIC Accelerator: Textile Fibres From CO2
CO2BioClean pitches its fibres as an answer to oil-based textiles and the microplastics they leave behind. CO2BioClean, a company founded in 2019 and based in Eschborn near Frankfurt, feeds CO2 captured from industrial plants to bacteria that turn it into polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), a plastic that it says biodegrades "within one year through composting or in the sea", and spins it into fibres.
The European Innovation Council granted €2,258,375 towards a €3.23 million project, CO2TEXTILE, to develop such fibres for clothing. By its end in August 2025 the company had produced about 2 kg of PHA, fabric that survived 50 washes, and the first consumer articles, socks and baskets. It prepared a pilot of about 3 tonnes a year. The company remains active in the German register, but it has not announced industrial production.
Company file
- Legal entity
- CO2BioClean GmbH, HRB 128012, Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main
- Registered
- May 2019; moved to Eschborn July 2022
- Business
- Licensing processes to make biodegradable PHA and PHB
- Technology
- Fermentation of industrial CO2 into PHA
- Partners
- SABIOMATERIALS (first articles); Infraserv Industriepark Höchst (field tests)
- Public funding
- EIC grant; €800,000 Hesse state subsidy (2023); other EU grants
- EIC project
- CO2TEXTILE, 1 Sep 2022 to 31 Aug 2025
- EIC funding
- Blended finance
Where CO2BioClean Stands Today
German register data compiled by North Data show CO2BioClean as active, with share capital raised to €65,000 in 2023, an €800,000 subsidy from the state of Hesse in March 2023 and several EU grants for projects on biodegradable packaging and CO2 conversion. Its website describes CO2 valorisation and biopolymer production and a project page for CO2TEXTILE; its media page shows a regional founders' award and pilot plant parts being installed. It announces no customers or licences.
The Technology: Bacteria That Eat CO2
According to its project page, CO2BioClean captures emissions from cement, chemical and energy plants and turns them through a proprietary fermentation into PHA, aiming for fibres that "reach the same end price as classical oil-based fibres". The CORDIS report cites up to about 1 kg of PHA from about 2.5 kg of CO2 in 10-litre bioreactors, and fibres with diameters from about 1 to 100 micrometres.
The scale gap
PHA made so far, and the next pilot
Cumulative PHA produced by the end of the project, and the annual capacity of the pilot it prepared.
CORDIS project 190182335 results. Kilograms.
"Upcycling of CO2 emissions into biodegradable fibres, which reach the same end price as classical oil-based fibres."
CO2BioClean, CO2TEXTILE project pageWhat the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
The EIC project
The EU paid 70% of a €3.23M project
CO2TEXTILE ran from September 2022 to August 2025. The award was blended finance.
CORDIS project 190182335. Values in € millions.
CO2TEXTILE promised a "novel business model enabled by a patented fermentation technology to produce 100% biodegradable textile fibres from CO2-emissions". CORDIS reports a pilot facility operating from summer 2024, about 2 kg of PHA produced in total, filament-ready fibres, fabric that withstood 50 washes at 40 °C and ironing, socks and baskets made by the partner SABIOMATERIALS, field tests at Infraserv's Höchst industrial park, and preparation of a pilot of about 3 tonnes a year. It also claims "price parity with petrochemical peers", without published cost data.
- PHA from CO2DeliveredAbout 2 kg produced.
- Textile fibres and productsDeliveredFibres, fabric, socks.
- Price parityClaimedNo cost data published.
- Industrial supplyNot shown3 t/yr pilot prepared only.
What Has Happened Since the Award
The record
From CO2 to the first pair of socks
CO2BioClean turned captured CO2 into PHA fibres at kilogram scale during the EIC project and prepared a pilot of about three tonnes a year.
- May 2019Company registeredCO2BioClean GmbH, Frankfurt area
- Oct 2021EIC Accelerator cut-offCO2TEXTILE: biodegradable fibres from CO2 emissions
- Sep 2022EIC project startsFermentation of CO2 into PHA for textiles€2.26M grant
- Mar 2023Hesse subsidyState development programme€0.8M
- Summer 2024Pilot facilityStarts operating; field tests at Industriepark Höchst
- Aug 2025EIC project endsAbout 2 kg PHA produced; first socks and baskets
CO2BioClean, CORDIS and German register data via North Data.
The Money
The award was blended finance, and the EIC Fund invested. In 2023 CO2BioClean closed a seed round of "around 3.6 million euros" in which, according to the law firm Oppenhoff, which advised the fund, the EIC Fund was the lead investor; Startbase also names BMH Beteiligungs-Managementgesellschaft Hessen and Ghazan Commodities. Its other public funding is grants: the EIC grant, the Hesse subsidy and further EU project grants. Its accounts were not accessible for this article.
What cannot be checked
The real production cost of its PHA, whether the 3-tonne pilot has been built, whether any licence has been sold and the size of the EIC Fund's stake are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
Turning industrial CO2 into biodegradable textiles would address emissions and microplastics at once, and the EU has funded the company through several grants. After three years and €2.26 million of EIC money, the output is measured in kilograms. The step from socks to supply chains is still ahead.
What the project promised
A business model producing 100% biodegradable textile fibres from CO2 emissions.
What the record shows
Kilogram-scale PHA, washable fabric and first socks; a 3 t/yr pilot prepared, no commercial supply.
The Verdict
Proof of concept, not yet a business
CO2TEXTILE showed that CO2 can end up in a sock. But the project promised a business model, and the public record shows a grant-funded company with kilogram output, no named paying customers and a seed round led by the EIC Fund.
CO2BioClean has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on company statements, EU project data and German register information, linked throughout.
Industry
Materials and chemicalsBio-based materials
- Focus
- Bio-based polymers
- Wood and fibre materials
- Technologies
- Gas fermentation
- Keywords
- Polyhydroxyalkanoates
- Carbon dioxide utilisation
- Microplastics
- Textile fibres
- Biodegradability