Alternative Innovation wins 2024 Andam Innovation Prize

Materials company Alternative Innovation, which is developing a sustainable and recyclable alternative to leather and coated textiles, has been awarded the ANDAM 2024 Innovative Prize.

Introduced in 2017, the Innovative Prize is now in its seventh edition and aims to support technological innovations that contribute to transforming and reinventing the fashion industry. It is open to any entrepreneur or start-up, French or international, who are willing to develop their project in France in the fields of bio-tech, new materials, production, distribution and circular economy.

The 2024 winner Alternative Innovation will receive a grant of 100,000 euros to continue developing its patented Alterskin technology, a shape-memory plant bioresin, which is a plastic-free material that regenerates infinitely and can offer various applications, such as coating, coated textiles, soft bio-sourced material, spay.

Nathalie Dufour, founder and general manager of ANDAM, said in a statement: “This year again, both the diversity and the quality of the applications received demonstrate the collective awareness of the need for profound change in the fashion industry and the importance of supporting these innovative projects.

“I am very honoured over the years to have gathered an experts’ committee around this prize, whose excellent knowledge and field of experience make it possible to reveal an ecosystem of international start-ups offering crucial solutions to support the shift of our industry. From new fibres and materials, through pigments and new manufacturing processes to distribution and customer experience, the entire industry is concerned, studied according to an ever more assertive desire to produce better by reducing waste, energy impact, carbon emissions and water consumption.”

Andam Innovation Prize won by start-up Alternative Innovation

Alternative Innovation beat off tough competition from two other finalists: Autone, a London-based start-up that provides an inventory management SaaS platform to maximise brands and retailers’ growth and impact, and Synovance, a French start-up Synovance, developing natural and biobased pigments (indigo mainly for now) to make the dying industry more sustainable.

Dufour added: “The three technologies: Alternative Innovation, Synovance and Autone, rewarded by our committee perfectly reflect this determination to offer ecological alternatives and/or effective impact measurement tools at each level of the value chain, and what's more, established on the French territory, which we are delighted about.”

Last year’s Innovation Prize winner was Italian materials company Sqim, which specialises in biofabricated materials made from pure mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms.