Dive Brief:
- Biomaterials maker Bolt Threads plans to become publicly traded through a special purpose acquisition company, Bolt announced Wednesday in a press release.
- Bolt reached an agreement with Golden Arrow Merger Corp. The combined company will operate as Bolt Projects Holdings, Inc. and is expected to trade on the Nasdaq exchange as BSLK.
- The news comes after Bolt paused the production of its mushroom leather alternative, Mylo, after reportedly struggling to find funding. The material was used in Lululemon products, Stella McCartney and Adidas.
Dive Insight:
While Bolt faces competition in the leather alternative space from the likes of MycoWorks, which recently launched commercial-scale production of its mushroom-based material, it is leaning into its lead product b-silk, a biodegradable ingredient made from spider silk fibers in beauty and personal care products, which has been on the market since 2020. It also makes Microsilk, also made from spider silk fibers.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024. Dan Widmaier, Bolt Threads founder and CEO, will lead the combined company.
“Our mission remains steadfast to develop and provide better solutions for a way better world, and we believe that going public will allow us to grow our biomaterials platform and bring b-silk, among other products, to commercialization faster,” Widmaier said in the release. “Bringing low impact innovative materials to market is increasingly difficult and desperately needed.”
The deal is expected to generate $35 million in gross proceeds for the company. This creates an interim bridge financing of $6.8 million, and $5.5 million of which was funded toward the signing of the combination agreement, and $28.7 million in stock.
Founded in 2009, Bolt’s goal is to replace ingredients with more biodegradable options. It has 49 granted patents, and 171 pending patent applications, per the release.
