Leonardo DiCaprio Invests In A Company Founded By An Icelander

Actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio has joined VitroLabs, the company which aims to create the world’s first slaughter-free leather, as an investor, Vísir reports.

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DiCaprio has announced the news on his Twitter, saying: “VitroLabsInc’s cell cultivated leather rivals the qualities of animal leather while having a positive impact on climate change. The level of research and refinement done to bring this product to life makes this an exciting industry moment. I’m pleased to join as an investor.”

VitroLabs was co-founded in 2016 by Ingvar Helgason, a fashion designer, who is originally from Reykjavík. According to Viðskiptablaðið‘s November report, it was valued at around 11 billion ISK, following the company’s latest financing round.

.@VitroLabsInc’s cell cultivated leather rivals the qualities of animal leather while having a positive impact on climate change. The level of research and refinement done to bring this product to life makes this an exciting industry moment. I’m pleased to join as an investor.

— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) May 4, 2022

VitroLabs combines the latest achievements in stem cell research, biomaterials, and 3D tissue to develop a lab-grown leather. According to VitroLabs’s website they can make “billions of square feet of leather with a single, harmless biopsy from one cow.”

The amount of the recent investment equals $46 million. In addition to Leonardo DiCaprio, other investors include BESTSELLER’s Invest FWD, global luxury group Kering, Khosla Ventures, actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, New Agrarian, and Regeneration.VC.