Real leather without animals in a $100bn market: Michael Newton, CEO at Qorium

Leather is a $100bn global market and no alternative has managed to truly replace it. At Slush in Helsinki, I spoke with Michael Newton , CEO of Corium, about why the only real way to replace leather is with leather itself, grown from bovine skin cells instead of animals.He believes Europe has a genuine opportunity to build breakthrough companies if it can reduce the friction that still slows founders down.The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here:https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjkSponsors:SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/Omni: The AI analytics platform trusted by fast-growing companies like Perplexity, Synthesia, and dbt Labs. Check them out here: https://omni.co/Venture Comet: The platform that gives startups and scale-ups real-time equity tracking, daily business insights and automated management information. Check them out here: https://venturecomet.com/Timestamps:0:25 - Introduction to Scaling Europe show1:40 - Qorium's innovative leather production2:29 - Michael's background and career pivot4:07 - Qorium's successful funding round5:35 - Early stage of commercialization journey6:40 - Targeting high-end leather brands8:01 - Vision for scalable leather production9:32 - Milestone for scalable leather production10:20 - Importance of commercial partnerships12:11 - Cultural differences in building companies14:23 - Importance of keeping the bigger picture15:00 - Two-way street between American and European tech15:31 - Reducing unnecessary bureaucratic barriers17:06 - Progress in supporting business growth in Europe