New York is putting $120,000 behind a dozen attempts to turn the state’s wool, flax, hemp and agricultural waste into commercially useful materials.

The New York Fashion Innovation Center, or NYFIC, named the recipients of its fourth grant round, awarding $10,000 apiece to projects spanning fiber processing, biomaterials, product development and workforce training.

The checks are modest, and most of the proposed products remain at the prototype or small-batch stage. Together, however, the projects target several of the gaps that have kept locally grown fibers from moving easily between New York farms, mills, designers and manufacturers.

Adrienne Carlile of Cochecton-based Flax Fiber Farm, for example, plans to adapt existing small-scale mill equipment to spin flax and hemp grown in the state. The project is expected to produce four prototype bast-fiber yarns.

Brooklyn’s Finiks Forge will pursue another route for underused natural fibers. Founder Luca Cera plans to extract keratin from wool waste generated by New York farms, mills and processors, using it to develop regenerated fibers for yarn and other textile applications.

At Syracuse University, researchers Li Jiang and Lihong Lao will turn low-grade wool into BioWool batting and liners for quilted garments and bags. Two Long Island projects will also work on regional wool: Hog Farm intends to connect local growers with home-textile production, while Mama Farm will launch a farm-to-fiber program for fashion and textile students.

“This round is about turning overlooked materials into opportunity,” Susan Easton, NYFIC’s product and marketing director, said. “From low-grade wool and farm byproducts to algae and mycelium, these grantees are creating the products, markets, and connections New York’s textile industry needs to grow.”

Not every project begins on a farm.

Cellsense founder Aradhita Parasrampuria received funding to produce two commercial capsule collections using compostable beads and embellishments made from algae and cellulose. The Brooklyn company is positioning the materials as plastic-free alternatives to conventional sequins and beading.

MushLume Lighting, also based in Brooklyn, will develop and test a compostable acoustic wall system combining mycelium with hemp, regenerative wool and agricultural byproducts from the state.

Other awards lean more heavily into product development. Brooklyn brand LowLou will expand production of sauna hats made from New York-grown and processed wool, while Mechanicville-based Flock & Loom will create a limited-edition collection of patterned blankets using wool grown and woven in the state.

The remaining projects include an upcycled apparel and community sewing program from The Bad Juju Design, an expansion of Bronx Fashion NYC’s youth workforce program and a study of the barriers preventing more New York wool from entering the textile supply chain.

The grant program forms one piece of the Fashion Innovation Center, which is backed by a $9 million state investment announced in 2023. A consortium led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute manages the initiative alongside the Fashion Institute of Technology, Hudson Valley Textile Project, SUNY Morrisville, Made X Hudson and The Field to Fiber Company.

Including the latest class, NYFIC has supported 36 projects. Grantees also receive mentorship, sourcing connections and entry into a three-month accelerator focused on customer discovery, business planning and go-to-market strategy.

They will eventually have access to NYFIC’s textile innovation lab at RPI, which is scheduled to open to the public this fall with equipment for fiber prototyping, testing and product development.

A fifth and final scheduled round of the center’s $10,000 sustainable textile innovation grants will open Oct. 30, with applications due Jan. 6. NYFIC is also planning a separate adaptive-fashion grant program for 2027.