It might take a village to raise a child, but it takes an entire ecosystem—investors, biotech startups, suppliers, brands, retailers and even consumers—to bring next-gen materials to adulthood.

There is plenty of optimism for the category, notably the fact that biomaterials startups pulled in $392 million during the first quarter of 2025 alone, per Net Zero Insights—a sign that next-gen investors are coming back after a few quiet years. Also back is the Material Innovation Initiative—the next-gen material innovation think tank that shuttered operations in September but quickly re-opened after a cash infusion.

But progress is hardly without its challenges. Partnership is essential to move innovation and commitments forward. Too many brands still “shop” for next-gen materials in the traditional way, browsing for what they want instead of partnering and investing in their creation (and in the worst cases, leaving developers high and dry when they don’t like the outcome). Call it innovation tourism, or call it cold feet, but all too often best intentions meet the cold economics of the market, rife with minimum order quantities and biotech that takes more than a seasonal cycle to scale.

Download the Material Innovations Report to learn:

• The vast portfolio of “green” investments by venture capital company SOSV.
• The latest circular technologies, bio-based feedstocks, fossil fuel alternatives and performance-boosting fibers that execs are most excited about.
• How the long-dormant American-grown hemp industry is gearing up mass production.
• How Unifi is laser focusing on all-polyester textile-to-textile recycling rather than blends.
• How one Portuguese footwear manufacturer is bringing fruit waste to the forefront with an Italian partnership.