Colour Fresh – Talking to Jennifer Thompson about the COLOURizd x Polygiene Collaboration

As the first stage of that collaboration comes to a close, we sat down with Jennifer Thompson, COLOURizd CEO and co-founder, to discuss what the collaboration has achieved, why the results are so exciting, and what the future holds.


Hi, Jennifer. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I’m Jennifer Thompson, CEO and co-founder of COLOURizd. I lead business development, commercial strategy, and investor relations, so I’m the company’s primary commercial face. My job is to open doors with mills, brands, and capital partners across the global textile industry and make the case for a technology that fundamentally changes how colour is achieved at production scale.

My path here wasn’t typical. I started in textile technology, working for a CAD/CAM company that put me inside virtually every major textile mill in America. We didn’t just install software, we helped mills rebuild their design and production processes around emerging technology. From there, I built and ran my own textile design firm, then became Director of Textile Design at Target Corporation, leading creative and product development at retail scale.

I’ve worked at the intersection of textile manufacturing and retail since 1990. And through it all, I’ve always had to balance technical, design, and commercial considerations.

How would you describe what COLOURizd does?

COLOURizd is a technology company run by founders with decades of direct experience working on the mill floor. We supply our QuantumCOLOUR™ dyeing technology to mills, enabling them to dye fabrics at scale without baths, reactive chemistry, or wastewater discharge. 

What makes COLOURizd unique is the way we approach the problem of chemical application from a mechanical perspective. Conventional dyeing means immersion. Think big vats and large volumes of water. Any chemistry that doesn’t bind to the fibre gets washed down the drain as effluent. 

We come at this problem from a completely different angle. QuantumCOLOUR™ applies chemistry, typically pigment and binder, directly to the yarn. There’s no vat and almost no water. Because it’s a direct, mechanical application rather than an immersion process, everything is used. There’s no waste to discharge. 

What does this mean in terms of efficiency savings?

The QuantumCOLOUR™ process requires approximately one litre of water per kilogram of yarn. Conventional dyeing requires 50 liters per kilogram of yarn. That means QuantumCOLOUR™ reduces water requirements by 98% and ensures zero wastewater discharge. At the same time, the process requires about 50% less energy, which translates to roughly 73% lower CO2 emissions, independently verified under ISO 14067:2018. 

QuantumCOLOUR™ doesn’t refine the dyeing process. It fundamentally changes how you get colour onto yarn.

What are the main pain points COLOURizd solves for its customers?

There are two main ones – water and wastewater. Dyeing is one of the most resource-intensive steps in textile manufacturing, and we remove the water bath entirely. Of course, this has a profound impact on other things. Energy cost exposure, for instance.

Conventional dyeing means heating large volumes of water, which requires boilers, steam, and fuel. With fuel costs where they are right now, energy expenditure has become one of the most volatile line items in a mill’s operating cost. Because QuantumCOLOUR™ doesn’t need to heat a water bath, it runs on roughly 50% less energy, insulating customers from a cost pressure conventional dyeing simply can’t escape.

But ultimately, it all comes down to water and wastewater. 

Can you explain what the Polygiene x COLOURizd project involves?

QuantumCOLOUR™ applies colour to fabric without a water bath. We wanted to see whether it could apply antibacterial odor control too. Traditionally, antimicrobial ingredients are applied as a finish later in the fabric stage, resulting in higher energy costs. So we tested whether QuantumCOLOUR™ could apply Polygiene’s antimicrobial chemistry at the yarn stage, at the same time as the dye.

And what were the results?

The trial was incredibly successful. We applied colour and antimicrobial chemistry simultaneously, in a single process step, with excellent wash fastness. For both Polygiene and us, this is really exciting, as it addresses a known limitation of antimicrobial finishes. While antibacterial treatments applied to the yarn surface via immersion can last a long time and provide ongoing protection, they will eventually diminish with washing. QuantumCOLOUR™ delivers Polygiene’s antibacterial treatment into the yarn structure itself, enhancing its durability and improving its wash resistance.

Beyond this, the collaboration reinforced that this is the kind of partnership model I want to see more of – two companies addressing a real limitation and innovating, rather than simply repackaging an existing technology.

What’s next for the project?

Demonstrating enhanced wash-fastness validates the core thesis behind our collaboration. But there are a few places we could take this next. We’re really interested in exploring whether colour fade could serve as a practical wear indicator for antimicrobial performance. At the same time, the project’s success begs the question: if yarn-stage application works for one antimicrobial chemistry, why not other Polygiene formulations, other fibres, and other functional finishes beyond antimicrobial treatment?

Thanks for your time, Jennifer! We look forward to sharing more about the Polygiene x COLOURizd collaboration over the coming months, and we are incredibly excited to be working with a company whose values so clearly align with the Polygiene ethos.