These in-their-own-words pieces are told to Patricia Lane and co-edited with input from the interviewee for the purpose of brevity.
Roya Aghighi partners with microbes and other living organisms to design and manufacture colours. This 34-year-old from Vancouver co-founded Lite-1 to harness the power of microorganisms to transform organic waste into sustainable, eco-friendly colourants at scale. It won the 2025 Web Summit Vancouver's PITCH competition for early stage start-ups.
Tell us about your project.
Imagine clothes that change colour or paintings that evolve or buildings that change hues with the position of the sun! Biofabrication means going beyond usual norms to build the perfect marriage between science, nature and design.
Lite-1 works with, rather than against, natural systems to make colourants. In a process similar to brewing beer, our emerging technologies, including synthetic biology and biofabrication microbes, turn waste into clean colourants while repurposing thousands of tonnes of waste into microbial food and away from landfills, preventing significant methane emissions. Once scaled, we will prevent vast quantities of harmful, toxic dyes and protect billions of litres of fresh water from contamination. Our closed-loop, fully circular system will eliminate the harmful effects of working with the toxic chemicals currently used in making colourants. No petrochemicals will be needed.
We are starting by supplying the fashion industry, but our products can be used for any application, from house paint to food dyes.
Lite-1 is creating high-quality jobs in Canada’s innovative bio-tech sector. Our customers will benefit from reduced energy consumption and avoid taxes imposed by the European Union on products that rely on pollution for their manufacture.
Backed by reputable investors, we work with major global manufacturers and brands and will launch our product shortly.
How did you get into this work?
Growing up in Tehran, I could often taste the pollution in the air. My mother is a fashion designer and I have always been interested in the industry. I began as a designer but was distressed by the environmental and social costs of manufacturing beautiful clothes. Fashion is our second skin — a truly intimate connection with the material world and colour is so important. But I was not satisfied to be part of a system that clothed and beautified us at the expense of other people and the environment.
I invented Biogarmentry, clothes that are alive and photosynthesize like plants. One day, an accidental contamination in my lab showed me that tiny organisms can create beautiful colours. At the same time, my co-founder Sarah Graham had a similar experience in her lab. She was harnessing the power of microorganisms to manufacture pearls and witnessed the promising capabilities of bacteria as a source for colour production. We decided to join forces to use natural systems to overhaul colour manufacturing. We now grow colours at the lab in non-environmentally invasive processes, instead of relying on non-renewable, toxic resources. We are transforming the colour industry so beauty and function coexist harmoniously.
What makes it hard?
Start-ups mean everyone wears many hats and there is never enough time. I have the privilege of working with a team who bring their top-flight education and skills to their passion for making the world safer, and our shared understanding that we are running out of time.
What worries you?
Of course, I worry about the animals facing extinction and the accelerating impacts of climate change. But more than anything, I worry that all the hard work we’ve poured into solutions will be erased, dismissed or delayed until it’s too late to tackle the big issues. I worry we’re becoming a passive society, quietly accepting rules and limits imposed by those who show no real care for building a safer, more just future for everyone.
What gives you hope?
The next generation is astounding in their knowledge of the challenge and their capacity to imagine creative solutions.
What would you like to say to other young people?
Curiosity is a superpower. Don’t accept that things are the way they have to stay. Consider the source of the information you are given. Dig deep for your own answers. Consider the reality that the natural world can help us if we let it.
What about older readers?
While many of our choices feel limited, we can still choose to pause and ask deeper questions: What systems am I supporting? What are the unseen consequences of this choice now, in the near future, and for the generations to come? Awareness starts with curiosity, and even small moments of reflection can ripple into real change.
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