Amsterdam is the go-to-place for textile innovations…
The words of Arnoud Haverlag, CEO and co-founder at BYBORRE. And after visiting Amsterdam last year to visit BYBORRE, and other innovators in the city reshaping the fashion world, I would very much echo that.
When it comes to the environment the textile industry has long-been a big polluter. Responsible for 10% of global CO2 emission and 20% of water waste, it is need of an urgent makeover. And thanks to game changers like BYBORRE, the future is already looking brighter.
Leading a movement to transform the ‘second most polluting industry in the world’, the textile innovation studio equips conscious creators with the tools: sustainable building blocks and innovations, that make it a big player in an open source movement allowing designers to clean up the industry.
Today that movement grew stronger, as BYBORRE announced it has received €3.2 million in series A funding to expand its platform. The investment will accelerate ‘BYBORRE’s on-demand textile platform (Textile Development Kit™, “TDK”) and expand its global on-demand production network’.
Borre Akkersdijk, co-founder and creative director at BYBORRE, said: “We are in contact with textiles almost every minute of the day from the moment we are born, and therefore it’s fascinating that this very traditional industry has not been disrupted and revolutionised for the last decades. We are thrilled to work with those who share our desire to question the status quo, hence why we’re reconsidering what it in fact means to collaborate with some of the world’s most respected creatives and brands, providing the tools to help them push their textiles into new forms and new meaning. BYBORRE is a movement.”
GORE-TEX is one of the big name suppliers that have already partnered with the Amsterdam-based business. While global brands like BMW, Mini and Descente are among those using the BYBORRE platform.
The series A funding was spearheaded by SHIFT Invest (Vandebron, The Renewal Workshop, Protix), along with with current investor the Amsterdam Climate & Energy Fund (Vandebron, Aectual) and existing angel investors.
At the heart of Amsterdam’s ideas engine, and powering the global push for a sustainable industry, is Fashion for Good, which supports the development of products that can fast-track the transition. Fashion for Good features regularly on Innovators Magazine and it is great to be able to share news that its world-first interactive museum on all things sustainable fashion opened up again this week.
Read more about some of the exciting startups supported by Fashion for Good.
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