Wednesday 11 February 2026, 12pm GMT
Hilco is seeking offers to acquire the intellectual property assets of Plant Material Limited (“Really Clever” or the “Company”) on behalf of the Proposed Liquidators of the Company, Freddy Khalastchi and Giuseppe Parla of Menzies LLP.
Founded in 2021, Really Clever operated as a specialist biomaterials technology company focused on the development of next-generation, animal-free and plastic-free alternatives to conventional leather and synthetic materials. The Company was established in response to growing regulatory, environmental and commercial pressures on traditional leather supply chains, alongside increasing demand from global brands for sustainable materials that do not compromise performance, cost or scalability.
Backed by over $6.5m of investment, the Company developed a proprietary biomaterial platform based on fungal and plant-derived polymers, designed to deliver leather-like performance characteristics without reliance on petrochemicals, polyurethane backings or animal inputs. From inception, the technology was engineered to be scalable and manufacturable, targeting applications across footwear, fashion and more.
At the core of the Company’s proposition is a novel materials formulation and production process that enables the biomaterial to function as a standalone sheet material, without requiring a synthetic or textile backing layer, differentiating the technology from many competing leather alternatives, which rely on plastic substrates or hybrid constructions to achieve mechanical strength and durability. The resulting material is flexible, durable, and compatible with conventional finishing and coating processes used within existing manufacturing supply chains.
Really Clever quickly progressed the technology from laboratory development through to pilot production, supported by a simplified manufacturing process that converts liquid bio-based formulations into sheet material suitable ready for finishing. The Company generated a substantial body of technical documentation, testing data and production know-how, covering formulation rules, process parameters, quality control and performance optimisation across multiple end-use cases.
Over the course of its development, the Company engaged with a range of established international brands and materials partners operating across footwear, fashion and automotive interiors, informing the development of the material and resulting in extensive testing against industry benchmarks, including flexibility, tear strength, coating adhesion and odour compliance. The Company’s technology attracted early commercial interest and validation from recognised industry participants seeking scalable, cost-competitive alternatives to traditional leather and synthetic materials.
This acquisition represents an opportunity to secure a developed portfolio of biomaterials intellectual property, including granted patents and pending patent applications, trade secrets, proprietary production know-how, testing data, supporting technical documentation and brand assets. Acquiring the assets provides a purchaser with a foundation to advance commercial deployment, integrate the technology into existing materials platforms, or leverage the IP defensively within the rapidly growing sustainable materials and biomaterials landscape.
Really Clever established a strong reputation within the sustainable biomaterials and alternative-leather sector, supported by demonstrable technical progress, public brand engagement and third-party recognition.
The Really Clever brand is closely associated with the development of its biodegradable, plastic-free biomaterial platform designed to replace conventional leather and synthetic materials. The Company’s progress from early research through to pilot and scaled production has positioned the brand as an execution-focused innovator.
Brand credibility has been reinforced through engagement with established fashion and footwear groups evaluating the material for commercial applications, including a long-established UK footwear retailer, alongside broader engagement with international brands.
Really Clever has attracted coverage across sustainability, innovation and materials-focused outlets, including PlasticFree.com, vegconomist and Maddyness, which highlighted the Company’s technology, environmental credentials and commercial ambitions. Founder interviews and feature articles contributed to broader visibility of the brand within the biomaterials ecosystem and positioned Really Clever as an emerging participant in the global shift toward scalable, lower-impact materials.
The Company holds a UK registered trade mark protecting the brand name and logo.
Full details on the Company’s trade mark are available via a virtual data room.
Really Clever holds a substantial and internationally filed portfolio of patents focused on the composition, manufacture and enhancement of fungal-based biomaterials, forming the core intellectual property underpinning the Company’s proprietary materials platform.
The Company’s patent portfolio is organised around two principal patent families, the first covering the Company’s core biomaterial technology, protecting fungal-derived materials comprising fungal biomass combined with polysaccharide matrices, plasticisers and emulsifying agents, together with associated methods of production and end uses. These filings protect the fundamental material formulation and processing approach that enables the biomaterial to function as a standalone sheet material suitable for use as an alternative to leather and synthetic substrates.
The Company’s second patent family relates to enhanced fungal material and liquid-state fermentation technologies, addressing methods for improving the mechanical properties of fungal biofilms, extending protection beyond material composition and into process innovation, strengthening barriers to replication and supporting broader application of the technology across textiles, upholstery and related material uses.
Collectively, the Company’s patent portfolio comprises over 30 published patent filings across multiple jurisdictions, including granted patents in key territories such as the US and Europe, with additional applications pending or progressing through national phases worldwide as part of the Company’s strategy to protect both commercial markets and manufacturing regions.
Full details on the Company’s patents are available via a virtual data room.
The Company developed a proprietary biomaterials discovery and formulation platform designed to speed up the identification, optimisation and commercialisation of high-performance, fungal-based leather alternatives.
At the core of the platform is an integrated Software Discovery Platform (SDP) that enables researchers to navigate an exceptionally large design space of biological and chemical variables to extract actionable insights from complex datasets, allowing rapid screening of fungal strains, material compositions and processing parameters.
Really Clever’s platform combines a biological discovery tool and applies proprietary bioinformatics techniques to analyse and interpret data drawn from global biological databases, supporting the identification and characterisation of fungal strains with properties suited to specific commercial uses with a chemical discovery tool using proprietary search scripts and methodologies, integrated with advanced large-language-model tooling and custom analytical workflows. The platform’s combined capabilities support formulation design, optimisation and material performance tuning, providing a structured, repeatable approach to material development and allowed the Company to tailor materials for different end uses.
Acquiring the Company’s platform provides a repeatable R&D and product-development engine that can be applied to future biomaterial innovations, new product categories and alternative formulations.
Really Clever developed a substantial body of proprietary organisational know-how, capturing its biomaterial formulations, production processes and testing data.
The Company’s records include detailed documentation covering material composition, processing parameters and pilot-to-scaled production workflows, alongside quality-control and finishing guidance. In addition, the Company has generated extensive material testing and performance data, including mechanical, durability, adhesion and compliance testing, benchmarking the biomaterial against conventional leather and synthetic alternatives.
The Company’s body of organisational knowledge enables repeatable manufacture, informed optimisation and continued commercial development.
The Company holds the primary reallyclever.co domain name, which is available to acquire.
The Company likely owns the copyright in the website content historically hosted at its domain, presenting the biomaterial technology, development progress, sustainability credentials and commercial positioning.
Rights in social media accounts are also available to acquire across various platforms, including Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and TikTok.
Full details on the Company’s social media accounts are available via a virtual data room.
The Company holds data relating to previous and prospective customers and strategic partners, including named points of contact and contact details for established international fashion and footwear brands, as well as records of parties that issued letters of intent in connection with material evaluation and potential commercial adoption.
The deadline for offers is Wednesday 11 February 2026 at 12pm GMT
All expressions of interest and bids are to be directed to Hilco in writing. A Bid Submission Form is available on request. Please contact Hilco to gain access to a virtual data room for further information on signing a confidentiality agreement.
Hilco is acting as exclusive agent to the Company and its Proposed Liquidators in connection with the proposed sale of some or all of the Company’s assets. The Proposed Liquidators act as agents of the Company and without personal liability.
All sales are made strictly on an “as is, where is” basis. Only such right, title and interest (if any) as the Company may have in the assets will be transferred to a purchaser. No warranties, guarantees, or representations (express or implied) are provided by the Company, its Proposed Liquidators, or Hilco in respect of the assets or any information supplied. All parties must rely on their own enquiries and due diligence. Any information provided is for convenience only and has not been independently verified.
All offers are subject to the addition of VAT at the prevailing rate, where applicable. A non-refundable deposit equal to 20% of the agreed purchase price must be paid by the successful purchaser within 48 hours of offer acceptance. Payment of the deposit grants the purchaser the exclusive right to proceed with the acquisition of the relevant assets for a limited period and on the terms agreed. A Buyer’s Premium of 10% of the final purchase price is payable by the successful purchaser in addition to the agreed purchase price, is non-negotiable and is payable at the same time and in the same manner as the purchase price and forms a condition of sale.
Legal completion must occur within five (5) business days of offer acceptance, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Company and its Proposed Liquidators.
