Lab-Grown Leather and the Dinosaur Factor

Why BSFA might again spark higher

BSF Enterprise PLC (LSE: BSFA) is not your average life sciences small-cap.

Through its subsidiaries 3D Bio-Tissues Ltd (3DBT) and Lab-Grown Leather Ltd (LGL), the company is at the cutting edge of biofabrication, working on lab-grown materials with applications across fashion, automotive, aerospace and even luxury goods.

Its latest foray into lab-grown leather has taken a significant step forward in the last few months, and though this is still a speculative play, there’s genuine substance behind the dinosaur marketing.

From Grant Money to Market Moves

Back in March 2025, BSFA made its first formal move to accelerate the commercialisation of its lab-grown leather technology. Backed by a £50,000 grant from the Northern Accelerator Growth Support program, the company formed a wholly owned subsidiary (Lab Grown Leather), to push its technology out of the lab and into the pilot production phase.

Initial activities focused on developing a comprehensive commercialisation strategy, including collaborations with external partners for market research and revenue stream validation, the drafting of a technology roadmap for scaling production, and the building of a business case to attract future funding into LGL as a standalone entity.

Importantly, this funding model is intended to be non-dilutive to BSFA shareholders - an important consideration for investors wary of constant equity raises (though these can never be ruled out).

And now these early-stage efforts are now yielding tangible results.

A Leather Portfolio with Real Technical Muscle

LGL has now unveiled a product strategy built on three distinct lines of lab-grown leather: Elemental Leather™, Elemental+™, and Elemental X™.

Elemental Leather is LGL’s flagship product: a premium, 100% lab-grown material that mirrors the look, feel and smell of traditional animal leather.

It’s grown entirely in vitro, without scaffolds or synthetic additives, making it not only animal-free but also plastic-free. This product is targeted at the high-end luxury market, where sustainability and material provenance are becoming competitive differentiators.

Elemental+ represents a genuine breakthrough.

Traditional leather, when processed below 0.4mm, tends to lose strength and structural integrity. But LGL has achieved the development of a lab-grown leather at just 0.04mm thickness, which is several orders of magnitude thinner than its animal-based counterpart, but without compromising durability.

This has become possible via integrating plant-based tanning processes and BSFA’s proprietary tissue-engineering method. This thin, lightweight leather has major implications for multiple sectors - where every gram counts.

A new patent has been filed to protect this innovation.

Then there’s Elemental X - the company’s most novel product line, developed at the intersection of engineered biology, AI, and synthetic cell expression systems.

This line includes materials with programmable characteristics, and at its core is T-Rex leather, a synthetic material inspired by reconstructed dinosaur DNA.

This has caught global attention and could well go into meme trading territory.

T-Rex Leather: The Hype Machine That Works

When BSFA announced T-Rex Leather in last month, it was more than a PR stunt. It was a calculated move that put the company on the map.

Developed in collaboration with The Organoid Company (a leader in genomic engineering) and VML (a global creative agency under WPP), T-Rex Leather is the headline product under the Elemental X banner.

It’s grown in LGL’s facilities in Newcastle using engineered cells derived from reconstructed genetic blueprints, and like the rest of LGL’s product line, it contains no plastics or synthetic scaffolds.

The launch generated significant media coverage, reaching an estimated 500 million people through online channels, print publications and social media. Engagement numbers were strong, with more than 2,500 interactions and over 1.75 million predicted views.

Importantly, this publicity also sparked three direct commercial conversations with major fashion and accessories brands.

These discussions are still ongoing, but we’re now a long way away from the lab-grown meat.

Early-Stage Industry Traction

While the marketing has been bold, there’s also serious work being done behind the scenes with legacy players in the fashion industry.

So far in 2025, LGL has established working relationships with four major fashion brands, one of which has now entered into an official partnership.

These brands are actively paying LGL to produce and ship leather samples for testing. Eight samples, each measuring 10x10 cm, have been delivered this year alone, with detailed feedback helping LGL refine its processes and improve the product’s appearance, tactile quality and compatibility with traditional leather processing systems.

This kind of feedback loop is essential for any material science start-up trying to scale.

It shows that LGL is not only building a product but also tailoring it for commercial realities, with input from global brands that know what sells.

Scaling Production, Cutting Costs

Perhaps the most promising operational update is LGL’s path to lowering its cost base.

A big part of this comes from 3DBT’s proprietary City-Mix™ cell culture media additive. Used in the tissue growth process, City-Mix is expected to save LGL over £500,000 in production costs over the next five years.

Given that biofabricated leather is typically expensive to grow at scale, this could be a game-changer - not only in improving margins but also in allowing LGL to reach price points that appeal beyond the ultra-luxury market.

A Speculative Bet With Real Risks

For all the potential excitement, it’s important to be clear that BSFA is a speculative investment and comes with the risks typical of an early-stage venture.

At present, the company is still pre-revenue from its lab-grown leather operations. The pilot plant is still in the planning stages, and timelines for scaled production remain uncertain.

There’s also the question of market readiness. Lab-grown materials, while gaining traction, still face hurdles in cost, scalability, and regulatory navigation.

The reliance on continual technological innovation also means the IP must remain differentiated and defensible, especially as competitors enter the synthetic materials space.

The Bottom Line

Despite the risks, BSFA offers something rare in the small-cap biotech world: a unique narrative with genuine science behind it.

With three differentiated product lines, visible commercial engagement, and cost-saving infrastructure already in motion, Lab Grown Leather could prove to be one of the more inventive material science stories in the UK market today.

For those with a high-risk tolerance and a long-term view, BSFA may be worth a closer look - not just for its speculative upside, but for its potential to reshape how we think about leather.

And there’s dinosaurs.