Dutch cultivated leather firm Qorium rebrands as Reyva for scaled production

Qorium, a Dutch company pioneering cultivated collagen leather, has rebranded as Reyva and is preparing to move from development batches to commercial volumes for luxury fashion and automotive interiors. The company plans limited initial supply with phased capacity expansion, signaling a step toward mainstream adoption of animal‑free leather alternatives.

Dutch cultivated leather firm Qorium rebrands as Reyva for scaled production. The company, which is industrialising its process at the Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus in Maastricht, Netherlands, says initial supply will be limited, with capacity added in stages. Reyva describes the change as a brand relaunch with no change to ownership, leadership or strategy. The team, technology and existing partnerships carry over under the new name, which combines "RE," for reinventing leather, with "VA," for forward movement. Collagen grown in sheets, finished in tanneries. Reyva's process starts with a small biopsy from a donor cow. Selected cells are banked and multiplied, then cultivated in proprietary tissue bioreactors, where they produce layers of bovine collagen, the protein that gives conventional leather its structure. The resulting sheets are tanned and finished using established leather-industry methods and can be cut, stitched and embossed on existing machinery. Uniform, rectangular sheets with controlled thickness form the core of the company's commercial pitch, setting it apart from conventional hides that vary in shape and quality and carry scars and other defects, which adds cutting waste and variation between batches. "Leather is an extraordinary natural material, but its conventional production begins with the limits and variability of an animal hide. By cultivating collagen in a controlled environment, we can preserve the qualities people value in leather while introducing a new level of precision, consistency and resource efficiency," said Dr Mark Post, co-founder and Chief Science Officer of Reyva. The company cites an independent life-cycle assessment by CE Delft that projects a footprint of 10.5 kg CO₂-equivalent per square metre at the tannery gate, including finishing. The benchmark used for conventional French calf leather is 77 to 83 kg, which puts the projected reduction at 87%. The assessment models a full-scale process in 2029 running on renewable electricity; current laboratory-scale output was not measured. The same study projects reductions of 96 to 98% in land use, 64% in water use and 86% in tanning chemicals. Reyva names energy as the largest contributor to its footprint and has set a target of 100% renewable energy across its facilities by 2030. Reyva has raised €30 million to date, made up of €8 million in seed funding and a €22 million Series A announced in November 2025. Investors include Brightlands Venture Partners, Sofinnova Partners, Invest-NL and LIOF. In 2024, the company produced a 35x35cm sample in a scaled-up tissue bioreactor, which it described as its first proof of concept for full-scale production. The company says it is developing the material with several major luxury fashion brands, whose identities remain confidential. Costs are currently above those of conventional leather, and Reyva expects to become price-competitive with high-end conventional leather as capacity grows. Reyva was founded by Post, a tissue-engineering specialist, together with Rutger Ploem, whose family has worked as tanners for six generations, and sustainability entrepreneur Stef Kranendijk. The company is led by CEO Michael Newton. Newton continued, "Reyva reflects the company we have become: ambitious, design-led and ready to stand alongside the world's leading material brands. Our science gives us a fundamentally new way to make real leather. Our next chapter is about turning that capability into a material that designers and manufacturers choose for its beauty, consistency and performance, as well as its sustainability credentials."

Read source: Cultivated X