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WTiN will invite a host of industry professionals and key opinion leaders to join delegates virtually and discuss the latest advancements in biobased and biosynthetic materials. Meet our Advanced Materials Week speakers. 
Laetus Felix Buberwa KelTex
Marte Hentschel VORN
Victoria Mataczynski Nanoloom
Anna Rising Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Professor Parik Goswami University of Huddersfield
Simon Whitmarsh-Knight Hyosung
Mya Griesbaum Mycorrhiza Fashion
Amanda Turner PLNTmatter
Tobias Schwab BASF
Madelaine Thomas WTiN
To be announced soon please keep checking for updates.

Laetus Felix Buberwa

KelTex

CEO & founder of KelTex

Laetus is a biotechnology innovator, entrepreneur, and climate technology advocate specialising in the intersection of biotechnology, sustainable materials and regenerative innovation. He is the CEO & founder of KelTex, where he leads the development of seaweed-based biomaterials for the future of sustainable textiles.

With a background in biotechnology, Laetus combines scientific research, entrepreneurship and community-driven innovation to address environmental challenges through nature-inspired solutions. His work focuses on transforming biological resources into scalable technologies that support circular economies and climate resilience, particularly within coastal communities.

Laetus has been recognised by several innovation platforms for his contributions to clean technology and sustainable development; including being selected as one of the winners of the H&M Foundation Global Change Award 2026. Through his work, he continues to champion the role of biotechnology and emerging materials in shaping a more sustainable future.

KelTex’s Brief Summary

KelTex is a biotechnology and materials company developing next-generation leather and textile fibers from sustainably cultivated seaweed. By combining materials science, biotechnology, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered aquaculture, KelTex transforms renewable marine biomass into high-performance, biodegradable alternatives to animal leather and fossil-based textiles.

Our proprietary process extracts natural seaweed biopolymers and engineers them into durable materials using low-impact, circular manufacturing methods. Beyond creating sustainable materials, KelTex is building a resilient supply chain that increases the value of seaweed cultivation while reducing carbon emissions, water consumption, and microplastic pollution. Our vision is to accelerate the transition toward a regenerative, low-carbon textile industry.

Marte Hentschel

VORN

Professor & Serial Entrepreneur

Marte Hentschel is a professor, serial entrepreneur and sustainability expert specialising in platform creation and collaborative innovation formats in the fashion and textile industry. Her work focuses on enabling transformation processes through co-creation and the application of digital technologies across design, development and production systems.

At VORN, she leads innovation and partnerships across a portfolio of publicly funded R&D projects spanning circular design principles, future of manaufacturing and material innovation, bringing first-hand experience in moving technical concepts from lab-stage development toward pilot and commercial scale. At BSP she is professor for sustainable fashion and R&D project lead.

VORN – The Berlin Fashion Hub is a physical and digital space for collaborative innovation with the goal of creating positive impact across fashion and culture. VORN provides access to community services, co-working, event and exhibition spaces, applied R&D projects and scaling programmes for innovators, fashion companies, research institutions, academia and public and private initiatives working toward a net-positive fashion future.

At BSP Berlin, the Faculty of Creative Business combines business management expertise with a deep understanding of innovation processes in the creative industries. The Bachelor's programme Sustainable Fashion Design and Management prepares future designers and managers to take responsibility for shaping a fair and sustainable fashion system, with a strong focus on ecological, cultural and social sustainability across all stages of the value chain.

Links:

www.linkedin.com/in/marte-hentschel
www.instagram.com/marte.hentschel
vorn-hub.com
www.fakultaet-creative-business.de

Victoria Mataczynski

Nanoloom

CEO and Co-Founder

Victoria is the CEO and Co-Founder of Nanoloom, a company engineering high-performance, circular graphene-based fibres for a variety of sectors and use cases. Prior to Nanoloom, she was part of the original team building an AI startup and led on product development and AI. The company captured over 50% of its market during her tenure. Previously, she was a corporate lawyer at top tier firms like A&O Shearman, leading, negotiating and executing over 50 deals worth £1 billion+, from VC to IPO stage. Victoria has a background in law, and has also previously worked on court trials including the prosecution and extradition of alleged Rwandan genocide war criminals in London, and criminal trials in Sydney, as well as having experience in aviation, maritime and shipping law. She holds degrees in both Economics and Law (First Class Honours) and multiple awards / scholarship prizes.

Anna Rising

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

DVM PhD Professor, Wallenberg Scholar

Anna Rising is a Professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, specialising in spider silk and bioinspired advanced materials. Her research focuses on engineering spider silk proteins to develop sustainable, high-performance materials with applications ranging from biomedicine to next-generation textiles and industrial materials. She pioneered an all-aqueous fibre-spinning process inspired by the natural silk-spinning process of spiders, enabling the production of high-performance artificial spider silk under mild, environmentally friendly conditions. Her current research explores functionalised and smart silk-based materials, translating nature's design principles into innovative solutions for advanced materials.

Professor Parik Goswami

University of Huddersfield

Professor of Technical Textiles and the Director of Research and Innovation

Professor Goswami is a professor of Technical Textiles and the Director of Research and Innovation at the University of Huddersfield. Previously, Professor Goswami was the Associate Dean for Research, Innovation, and Knowledge Exchange for Arts and Humanities, Head of the Department for Fashion and Textiles and then of Music and Design Arts at the University of Huddersfield. He is also the Director of the Technical Textiles Research Centre. Before joining the University of Huddersfield, Professor Goswami was the Director of Research and Innovation at the School of Design at the University of Leeds and led the Fibre and Fabric Functionalisation Research group at Leeds. He is committed to multidisciplinary research and is working towards building constructive collaborations with the University of Huddersfield and industries.

Professor Goswami's domains of research are product development using flexible materials and the application of chemistry for functionalising textiles. Professor Goswami manages a large profile of research concerned with fibre/polymer science, nonwovens, medical textiles (implantable materials and non-implantable materials), sustainable materials (fundamentally understanding the properties of new material), application and development of nano/submicron fibres for novel applications, and plasma treatment for functionalising textiles and textile chemistry. Professor Goswami is also the first academic to be appointed to the board of the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT). Professor Goswami is a Freeman of the City of London and the Worshipful Company of Woolmen.

Simon Whitmarsh-Knight

Hyosung

Marketing and Sustainability Director – Textiles

Simon has extensive international B2B2C sales and marketing experience growing new business in the sustainable fibres, technical textiles and performance apparel industries. Having worked for global brands, retailers and manufacturers, Simon’s background includes building ingredient brands and aligning teams across cultures in dynamic markets and supporting supply chain transformation and engagement through the textiles value system. Simon currently leads sustainability for Hyosung, the world’s largest elastane manufacturer by market share, who recently completed a US$1bn investment in creating the world’s first low-carbon integrated supply chain to produce bio-based elastane derived from sugarcane in Vietnam.

Mya Griesbaum

Mycorrhiza Fashion

CEO and Founder of Mycorrhiza Fashion, Materials Science Researcher

Mya Love Griesbaum is a materials science researcher, specialising in the convergence of design, biology and materials science. She is also the CEO & founder of Mycorrhiza Fashion - a biomaterials startup transforming textile waste into fungi-based leather alternatives. Using locally sourced textile waste and cultivate mycelium (the root system of fungi), she is working on growing durable, customisable and biodegradable materials to replace animal and plastic-based leathers. Currently, Mya and her team are focused on producing these textiles from discarded polyester and other textile waste. By using polyester as a feedstock, they grow microbes into a biomass that they can process into a textile. Inspired by fungi’s regenerative power and ability to digest synthetic pollutants, currently they are in the R&D stage, working to gain feedback from designers. 

Amanda Turner

PLNTmatter

Chief Product Officer & Founding Member

Amanda Turner is a material innovator with more than 20 years of experience advancing sustainable product solutions across wellness, apparel and home industries. At PLNTmatter, she leads product development and strategic growth, driving the commercialisation of the company’s biomimetic material technologies. Her background spans natural raw materials, low-impact manufacturing and high-performance design, integrating regenerative science with market-ready innovation. Amanda’s expertise bridges technical development and consumer insight; transforming purpose-driven ideas into scalable, high-value solutions that benefit both people and the planet.

Tobias Schwab

BASF

New Business Development & Sustainability Polyamides

Tobias Schwab holds a Master of Science in Business Administration. He joined BASF as a management consultant with a focus on breakthrough innovation and currently works in marketing and new business development for BASF’s polyamides business unit. 

Madelaine Thomas

WTiN

Managing Director

As Managing Director of WTiN, Madelaine leads the delivery and strategic operations of critical data-driven intelligence and market insights that empower the global textile & apparel value chain. She is dedicated to driving digital transformation and sustainable innovation across the industry through high-quality intelligence, consultancy and strategic partnership. Working at WTiN for over 10 years, and previously as Head of Content, Madelaine has a wealth of knowledge across the supply chain. She holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Leeds, UK and a First Class Honours degree in International Journalism from Liverpool John Moores, also in the UK.

To be announced soon

please keep checking for updates.

Speakers