fibe was founded by four Design Engineers from Imperial College London in 2022. Since then, the team has expanded to over fourteen incredible biochemists, engineers, technicians and farmers. We are based in Waterloo!
Fibe was founded in 2022 by four students as part of their final-year design engineering project at Imperial College London. The founders have a shared belief that new materials are not only one of the most effective ways to reduce the environmental impact of engineering solutions but also have the possibility of shifting products, industries and societies. No one needs this shift more than the fashion industry, which continues to be one of the world’s largest consumers of natural resources.
Cotton alone uses 2.5% of the world’s arable land (equivalent size to all of Germany), requiring over 215 trillion litres of fresh water. As such, fibe was founded to create the next generation of materials to provide the change this industry so desperately needs.
By setting out to develop an entirely new fibre category, using an entirely new process and a feedstock with no system for valorisation - we have not made it easy for ourselves. Our biggest tool for overcoming these challenges is to bring in the best and most-aligned people to our company and provide them with an environment where they can flourish, have a major impact on the direction of the company and express themselves. An incredible team allows for more autonomy and decision-making capabilities of employees and reduces the level of intervention by the management team, so they can focus on the big picture. However, with so many permutations and combinations for our process, managers will intervene to support prioritising the most valuable areas of research within the necessary timeframe.
Highly Responsible: It takes an unusually responsible person to thrive in the level of complexity and the fast-paced R&D environment in which we operate. We need people who can receive complex, open-ended tasks with countless unknown unknowns and break them down into small tasks while responding to pivots quickly. We need a team that can identify and act on the tasks which offer the most ROI and balance between seeing things to completion without needlessly continuing to throw resources at a dead-end.
Efficient: As an early-stage startup, time and money are our most important resources. You will often find yourself without access to all the equipment and tools that may be at your disposal at a larger company and will need to think of creative, cost-effective and fast workarounds
Unselfish: We need a team of people who put the company’s mission first. This means prioritising the most important tasks for the company, not just the ones that interest you. It also means acknowledging and proceeding with the best idea (often the idea backed by the best data), regardless if you didn’t propose it. Once a decision has been made, a selfless person will fully commit to it, regardless if they disagree.
Growth Mindset: With the right mentality, we can all become better versions of ourselves. We are looking for people who embrace the challenges and setbacks that come with working in a startup. Importantly, we seek people who are open to receiving feedback and learning from criticisms rather than feeling personally attacked.
Caring: When in an environment in which we are cared for, we are more open to voicing our opinions, taking risks, and believing others are acting with the best intentions. This does not mean you need to be best friends with everyone you work with, however, it goes a long way to empathise and look out for you teammates.
As we have expanded the team, we have been proved time and time again that good ideas can come from anywhere. Junior hires who often deal with practical R&D have provided insights that project managers would not be able to see through data alone. Employees from other departments often bring a fresh perspective. To encourage cross-disciplinary brainstorming we have fostered an environment of transparency. Nearly all documents are available for every employee to access: from investor meeting notes, strategy documents and R&D databases. Company wide meetings are held weekly to keep everyone up to date and provide a space asking questions. We expect our team to have a high-level understanding of every key project at the company. Managers and employees should promote open-mindedness and selflessness to actively encourage interdisciplinary working. After a decision has been made, we expect everyone regardless of what approach they proposed, to commit to next steps and ensure the outcome is as successful as possible.
As a company which will be deep in R&D for the foreseeable years, we have developed a philosophy of strategic risk. Unlike most companies, which aim for the lowest hanging fruit and build their way up, Fibe is working directly towards the most impactful and lucrative end goal (developing a sustainable alternative to cotton/polyester). While this can create uncertainty, an incredible team and clear management allows strategic risk to be a powerful tool build long-term value and maintain optionally. We know that the make-or-break moment for our company will not come now when we are working with the high-end sector, but will come when we need cost party for mass-market clients. Strategic risk forces us to tackle our biggest hurdles early on and embed long term thinking. If we ever fail, by maintaining optionality we can fall back on the next best thing. We often have a more conventional approach which we develop in parallel incase our high-risk high-return option fails.
It is important to note that when needed, we do set attainable, stepping-stone goals. But this is on a micro-level and is there only to create clarity on key tasks. Strategic risk is all about the balance between going directly for the end goal and focusing on the short term.
We believe that the vast majority of people will never downgrade on their experience and choose an inferior product because it is most sustainable. The solution is to make products that outperformance current options in every way while ‘happening’ to be more sustainable.
Fibe was founded to have the largest possible positive impact on the environment. To achieve this, we cannot only aim to have the product with the lowest carbon footprint, we must also ensure our material is equally as scalable and affordable so that more people can access it.We are not aiming to remain another luxury material which will make headlines but never enter the market. As such, we prioritise our efforts towards whatever reduces the price and improves performance the most while compiling with stringent sustainability requirements.
We are hard at work creating the next generation of sustainable fibres.
Any job openings will be first published on our LinkedIn page.
Here.
fibe is looking for fashion, farming and development partners. Please get in touch!
