Listen to this articleRubi Laboratories raised $7.5 million in venture funding. The capital will accelerate scaling of its cell-free enzymatic “CO2 to cellulose” technology, expand into new sectors like CPG and aerospace, and advance commercialization of sustainable, biodegradable materials.
What is Rubi?
Rubi Laboratories is a San Francisco-based climate tech company founded in 2021 by sisters Neeka and Leila Mashouf that pioneers symbiotic manufacturing by converting captured CO2 into biodegradable, high quality materials like cellulose using a proprietary cell-free enzymatic platform. Inspired by natural processes such as how trees build cellulose from carbon, Rubi’s net carbon negative technology produces textiles and other essentials with virtually zero water or land use, aiming to restore ecological balance through planet-positive supply chains that clean the air and enable fully traceable, biodegradable products.
Rubi Laboratories’ latest funding round is a $7.5 million early stage venture capital investment announced on March 17, 2026. It was co-led by AP Ventures and FH One Investments, with participation from existing and new backers including Talis Capital, CMPC Ventures, H&M Group, Understorey Ventures, and angel investors. This brings Rubi’s total equity funding to approximately $32.1 million across multiple rounds since its founding in 2021.
The capital is allocated to three core priorities: scaling the production system from pilot to industrial demonstration scale; accelerating commercialization of additional products in the pipeline beyond the initial cellulose based textiles; and advancing proprietary engineered enzymes to improve performance, yield, and cost efficiency. These steps mark Rubi’s transition from technology validation to full commercial readiness.
Simultaneously with the equity round, Rubi secured multi year offtake term sheets exceeding $60 million in committed value from leading fashion brands and manufacturers. These agreements provide a direct revenue pathway and de-risk manufacturing scale-up by locking in future purchases of CO2 derived materials.
Commercial momentum is equally strong. Rubi more than doubled its partnership count from seven (previously including Walmart and Reformation) to fifteen. New pilots now extend into consumer packaged goods (CPG) and aerospace sectors, broadening applications from apparel into higher performance materials. Pilots are advancing to larger scale production testing, and fiber performance evaluations with multiple partners have confirmed that Rubi’s outputs meet or exceed industry standards for strength, quality, and traceability.
Rubi’s core technology employs a cell-free, multi enzyme platform that converts captured CO2 into cellulose and other essential materials through synthetic biological pathways. The process is net carbon negative, capturing and avoiding roughly 20 bathtubs’ worth of CO2 per pair of jeans equivalent, while using virtually zero water or land. End products are fully biodegradable, traceable, and modular, enabling on-shored, localized manufacturing anywhere. The platform first demonstrated viability in textiles but is now expanding to chemicals, CPG components, and aerospace grade materials.
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Co-founder and CEO Neeka Mashouf emphasized the inflection point: the technology has proven it scales effectively and satisfies customer requirements, unlocking modular, affordable production of critical materials from waste carbon across textiles, CPG, aerospace, and chemicals verticals. The fresh capital and offtake commitments directly accelerate this expansion to meet surging global demand for low carbon, planet-positive alternatives.
In the broader context of Rubi’s trajectory, this round builds directly on earlier seed capital (including an $8.7 million round co-led by H&M Group and Patagonia), National Science Foundation grants, and progressive pilot deployments. The involvement of strategic investors like H&M Group (a repeat participant) and CMPC Ventures underscores confidence from industry incumbents facing Scope 3 emissions pressures. The combination of equity infusion, secured offtake revenue, and cross sector pilots positions Rubi at the forefront of enzymatic “CO2 to materials” manufacturing, delivering both environmental restoration and economic viability in a market shifting toward symbiotic, circular supply chains.
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