Circular Fashion Group Raises €30M For Its Regenerated Fibers Made From Textile Waste

Circular fashion and textile technology group Infinited Fiber Company secured EUR€30M (approx. US$35M) in its latest financing round. New investors include sportswear company Adidas and Invest FWD A/S, Danish fashion group BESTSELLER’s investment arm for sustainable fashion. The capital raised will go towards boosting regenerated fibres production at its pilot facilities.

Espoo-based biotech company Infinited Fiber completed a financing round for its regenerated fibres which are made from household textile waste.

Circular fashion

More than 92 million metric tons of textile waste is produced every year, out of which a majority equivalent to a truck full of clothes, winds up in landfills every second, according to the Ellen Macarthur Foundation. By 2030, it is estimated that number will climb to 134 million tonnes of textiles per year.

At the same time, a report highlighted that the global textile fiber market is set to soar 30% to 146 million metric tons by 2030 from 111 million metric tons back in 2019.

Taking advantage of this, Infinited Fiber aims to address the waste issue through its innovative recycling system.

The company uses its patented technology to convert materials rich in cellulose, like textile waste, discarded cardboard, and wood into high-quality natural fibres. The company claims that these fibres match the qualities found in virgin fibres. Its Infinna fiber looks and feels like cotton.

These can then be easily dyed, used individually, or be blended with other fibres to produce new items. They can be recycled end number of times, as the biodegradable fibres don’t contain any plastic elements or impurities.

Investor support

Infinited Fiber’s financing round witnessed the support of new investors like Adidas, Invest FWD A/S, and investment company Security Trading Oy.

Existing investors backed the round like fashion giant H&M Group, investment company Nidoco AB, and Sateri, the world’s largest viscose producer and a member of the RGE group of companies.

“We are really happy to welcome our new investors and grateful for the continued support from our older investors,” co-founder and CEO of Infinited Fiber Company, Petri Alava said in a statement. “These new investments enable us to proceed at full speed with the pre-engineering, environmental permits, and the recruitment of the skilled professionals needed to take our flagship project forward. We can now also boost production at our pilot facilities so that we can better serve our existing customers and grow our customer-base in preparation for both our flagship factory and for the future licensees of our technology.”

Head of H&M CO:LAB, H&M Group, one of Infinited Fiber Company’s earliest investors, Nanna Andersen said: “We’re thrilled to continue our journey with Infinited Fiber Company by further investing in them. To be joined by other global brands clearly speaks to the shared belief in the scalability of their technology as well as the team behind it. More importantly, it also shows the huge potential that their regenerated textile fiber has in driving the industry towards a more sustainable fashion future.”

These new investments enable us to proceed at full speed with the pre-engineering, environmental permits, and the recruitment of the skilled professionals needed to take our flagship project forward

Petri Alava, co-founder and CEO of Infinited Fiber Company

Increase production capabilities

The company has plans to open its flagship factory in Finland, especially since brands like H&M, PVH Corp, the parent company of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, Wrangler, and Patagonia have shown interest in its regenerated textile fiber Infinna.

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The factory will use household textile waste as raw material. It is estimated to begin operations in 2024 with an annual production capacity of 30,000 metric tons. The new capital will go towards setting up this factory and ramp up production at its pilot facilities in the years leading to 2024.

Senior vice president, sustainability at Adidas, Katja Schreiber said support with Infinited Fiber is in line with their ambition to make nine out of ten articles from sustainable materials by 2025. “Sustainability is a key focus of our strategy, with sustainable material innovations playing an important role in creating a more sustainable world. Today, we already use more than 60% recycled polyester and are aiming to be entirely virgin polyester-free by 2024. We believe that impact-at-scale in sustainability will require strong collaboration and look forward to pushing boundaries in cellulose-based materials together with Infinited Fiber Company.”

We believe that impact-at-scale in sustainability will require strong collaboration and look forward to pushing boundaries in cellulose-based materials together with Infinited Fiber Company

Katja Schreiber, senior vice president, sustainability at Adidas

In addition, H&M Group has signed a multiyear sales agreement in exchange for agreed amounts of Infinna from the flagship factory. New investor BESTSELLER has also signed a similar agreement.

Apart from global fashion leaders, Infinited Fiber’s innovation is in high demand from major textile fiber producers like Sateri to develop closed-loop, circular and climate-positive cellulosic fibers.

Read: We’re Loving These 5 Upcycled Sneakers Made From Waste

Lead image courtesy of Infinited Fiber.