Bolt Threads Microsilk and SPAC listing
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
Bolt Threads, a U.S. company making silk-like protein by yeast fermentation, sold 50 Microsilk neckties in 2017 and listed on Nasdaq through a special-purpose acquisition merger in 2024. Its 2024 revenue was $1.37 million against a net loss of $65.4 million.
Company results announcement; year-end cash $3.5 million.
Status As of the financial year 2024 results: revenue $1.37 million and net loss $65.4 million; later events (reverse split, Nasdaq notice) are unverified in the sources reviewed.
What happened
In March 2017 Bolt Threads sold 50 neckties made from "Microsilk", a protein produced in yeast, at $314.15 each. The company's chief scientist described the tie as a showcase product and said a more widely available product would follow, according to MIT Technology Review.
In October 2023 the company announced a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), with expected gross proceeds of $35 million. The reporting described the product focus as cosmetics rather than fibre.
The company reached Nasdaq through the SPAC merger in August 2024. For financial year 2024 it reported revenue of $1.37 million, a net loss of $65.4 million and year-end cash of $3.5 million. Its main product was by then a cosmetic ingredient, "b-silk" or "Vegan Silk", rather than a fibre.
- 2017March: 50 Microsilk neckties sold at $314.15 each
- 20235 October: SPAC merger announced, expected gross proceeds $35 million
- 2024August: listing on Nasdaq through the SPAC merger; year ends with revenue $1.37m, net loss $65.4m, cash $3.5m
How it looked
Shown
- Microsilk, a yeast-made silk protein, was shown in a limited run of 50 neckties.Bolt Threads, March 2017 · MIT Technology Review
Recorded
- 50 neckties were sold at $314.15 each in March 2017.
- Financial year 2024: revenue $1.37 million, net loss $65.4 million, year-end cash $3.5 million; main product a cosmetic ingredient.
- SPAC merger announced on 5 October 2023 with expected gross proceeds of $35 million.
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- bolt-threads (2017-03-10): The chief scientist said, as reported by MIT Technology Review, that the necktie was a showcase product and that a more widely available product would follow. · MIT Technology Review
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.
Court
- None on record No court case on record.
Record
- Unclear Reported but not independently verified: Bolt's total private capital, given as between $300 million and $471 million depending on the source, with a 2021 valuation listed at $1.15 billion; the sources conflict.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: that Bolt halted production of its mycelium leather "Mylo" in June or July 2023 because it could not find financing, and that the chief executive said the company had come "devastatingly close" to commercial scale.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a Microsilk dress made with Stella McCartney for a MoMA exhibition in July 2017.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a Nasdaq notice and a 1-for-20 reverse share split in February 2025.
- None on record No independent calculation was found of which fields (corn, sugar cane) supply the sugar that feeds the fermentation, or how much land larger scale would need.
- None on record No source reviewed states environmental harm caused by the company.
Did the harm stop?
Not applicable; no harm event is recorded in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Press and investigations
- Synthetic spider silk for sale in a $314 necktieMIT Technology Review · 2017-03-10
- Bolt Threads SPAC dealFashion Dive · 2023-10-05