In the seed funding round, Nature Coatings, a start-up behind a “carbon negative” black pigment dye, has raised $2.45 million. The round was led by venture fund, Regeneration.VC and The 22 Fund. Leonardo DiCaprio also participated in the same.

Nature Coatings was founded by natural dye specialist Jane Palmer, who made vegetable dyes for fashion brands and saw the growing necessity for sustainable dyes.

Nature Coatings is famous for its special black dye called BioBlack TX, which is different because it is made from leftover wood. The company got money from the National Science Foundation to launch this product in 2017.

This dye can be used to make designs on T-shirts, to color denim and leather, and even for packaging. Big brands like Kering and Levi’s use this dye for their products.

The new capital earned by the start-up will be used to sell the products to more brands while also developing the company's new production facility in Georgia and hiring more employees.

Skilled hires are required to pull-off the Nature Coatings’ proprietary black pigment that is ready to be scaled for more production and distribution, said Dan Fishman, general partner at Regeneration.VC.

According to Palmer, one of BioBlack TX’s first adopters in the fashion industry was Kering in 2020. The pigment is now used across printing, leather, and denim. The start-up has also worked with Levi’s and has been adopted by Target. It’s now in the midst of developing new products beyond BioBlack TX.