Seaweed dye developer SeaDyes has joined the James Hutton Institute as a spin-in company after securing £75,000 of funding from Scottish Enterprise's High Growth Spinout Programme.

The Scotland-based SeaDyes was founded in 2023 by marine scientist, designer and biotech innovator Jessica Giannotti to revolutionise the textile industry by producing natural dyes sourced from seaweed.

The textile industry generates US$1.3tr globally and employs more than 300m people along the value chain worldwide[1]. Every year, 200,000 tonnes of synthetic dyes are leaked into the environment, with negative impacts on health, biodiversity, and climate[2][3].

Textile dyeing and finishing contributes to 3% of global CO2 emissions in 2024 and is projected to reach 10% by 2050[4]. It is the second largest contributor to global industrial wastewater pollution, impacting entire ecosystems and millions of people. Textile dyes can be toxic, mutagenic, carcinogenic agents and can persist as pollutants[5].

Giannotti is focused on exploring biobased colourants as a sustainable, non-toxic alternative to petroleum-based synthetic dyes.

She told WTiN: "The landscape has evolved significantly, with new startups emerging and developing biobased dyes from various sources, including microalgae, bacteria, agricultural waste streams, and of course, seaweed. There is a growing appetite and interest in