Hide BioTech

Yudi Ding has been selected as part of UNICEF Innovation30: Young Innovators Shaping the Future.

Countries of Solution Deployment: United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, United States 

Innovation Accelerator: Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, United Kingdom

Yudi Ding, now 31, offers an eco-friendly alternative to leather products. His innovation, Hide Biotech, develops high-quality biomaterials for the fashion industry and provides a new tech solution for creating highly customisable materials for other sectors.    

Hide Biotech builds sustainable biomaterial from extracted marine collagen. As leather is 90 per cent collagen, this material replicates the authentic feel of leather while significantly reducing water consumption, carbon footprint, land use, and waste generated in the manufacturing process. Their collagen approach stands out compared to plant-based alternatives. “Plant fibres are fundamentally different from collagen, and we believe collagen is a much more robust building block to work on,” Yudi explains.   

Furthermore, by using collagen protein, Yudi’s innovative solution achieves 100 per cent traceability of its supply chain. Thanks to his innovative extraction technology, Yudi’s solution offers more scalable and cost-effective results compared to other collagen-based approaches. Collectively, Hide BioTech’s clients currently represent 70 per cent of the global luxury market. Their business model enables them to tap into the rapidly expanding global vegan leather market.   

The fashion industry directly impacts millions of children globally through environmental pollution, resource depletion and water contamination. Yudi’s ingenuity contributes globally to greenhouse emissions and toxins reduction while promoting a competitive low-cost circular approach.   

 “Our vision is to respect and restore a harmonious balance between what humans need, what humans make, and what the planet needs,” Yudi reflects.