Oxford Innovation Finance invests in sustainable dye innovator Sages
What's the deal? Oxford Innovation FinanceDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s angel investment network, OION, has invested in SagesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a startup that transforms inedible food waste into high-performance, biodegradable dyes. The angel round will help Sages expand production capacity, grow its team, and fulfil first customer orders.
Sages has developed a patented process to replace synthetic dyes — which account for roughly 20% of global wastewater — across textiles, inks, paints, packaging, and other industrial applications. The company says its technology can cut CO2 emissions from dye production by up to 90%.
Why now? Regulatory pressure is mounting. The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles is pushing manufacturers to find greener alternatives, while consumer demand for environmentally responsible products continues to rise.
Sages is already working with manufacturers in the UK and Europe to scale production, with longer-term plans for regional dye manufacturing hubs across major global textile markets.
"This investment marks an important milestone for Sages as we accelerate towards commercial deployment," said Emily Taylor, co-founder and chief executive officer. "We believe colour should not cost the earth."
What could go wrong? Scaling bio-based dyes to match the price and consistency of petroleum-derived alternatives is notoriously difficult. Synthetic dyes dominate because they're cheap, reliable, and deeply embedded in global supply chains. Convincing manufacturers to switch — even under regulatory pressure — requires proving performance parity at industrial scale.
The signal: The investment reflects a broader trend of climate-focused capital flowing into unsexy but critical parts of the industrial supply chain. Textile dyeing is one of the world's most polluting processes, yet it has attracted relatively little startup innovation until recently. As an early-stage company backed by an angel network rather than a large institutional fund, Sages' path to commercial scale will hinge on proving performance parity quickly enough to secure the larger rounds needed to build out its planned regional manufacturing hubs.
