Dutch textiles innovation company ByBorre has raised €16.9 million ($18.3 million) in a series B round led by a consortium of impact investors. Invest-NL and VP Capital led the round, along with existing investors SHIFT Invest and Amsterdams Klimaat en Energiefonds (AKEF).

A group of angel investors also contributed, including seasoned industry experts and entrepreneurs Charlie MacGregor (The Social Hub), Henk Jan Beltman (Tony Chocolonely), Patrick Munster (Scotch & Soda, Marie-Stella-Maris, Salle Privée), Bram de Zwart & Brian Garret (Hubs), Joris Pol (MediaMonks) and Geert-Jan Smits (Flinders). Rabobank’s scale-up banking team provided a long-term debt and a machine lease facility.

The investment will be used to accelerate the company’s international growth in key markets such as the United States, the Nordic countries and Italy, and to further establish the position of ByBorre as the leading platform for sustainable textiles. ByBorre will continue to invest in the platform development, its design tool ByBorre Create, the ready-to-order library ByBorre Textiles and to expand its network of industry partners.

Founder Borre Akkersdijk commented: “We challenge the old, while delivering solutions for the new. The demand for textiles keeps growing, and so the need for a textile design and development solution that matches commercial feasibility, positive impact and creativity is ever more pressing. That’s why we’re here to stay.”

Revolutionizing the textiles industry

ByBorre has heavily invested in automation, material research and data analytics to increase efficiency, productivity and transparency throughout the textile supply chain. Its advanced software aims to digitalise the entire design and production process, in a ‘What You See is What You Get’ (WYSIWYG) experience. ByBorre also gives detailed insights on the reduction of the environmental impact and emissions saved in all the life cycle stages in a user-friendly and interactive way.

The platform provides users the tools needed to make positive change and increase sustainability in the textiles industry. Since the introduction of ByBorre Create and ByBorre  Textiles, a rapidly growing client base of game-changing and upcoming brands and creators in fashion, interior, automotive, product design and architecture have used its services and tools.

“Invest-NL is thrilled about its first investment in the textiles industry, one of the most polluting industries of today’s global economy. ByBorre’s ground-breaking platform technology and services enable a transparent ecosystem and hold tremendous potential to rethink both design and production of textiles. By enabling this frontrunner to scale up quickly, we believe it can play an important role in speeding up the transition towards a carbon-neutral and circular economy,” said Rinke Zonneveld, CEO Invest-NL.

The shift towards circular textiles

ByBorre advocates doing less and better and requires recyclability of materials for both its inputs and outputs. This is realised by screening the material’s origins and holding the suppliers accountable. Circular principles are also held up throughout the supply chain to reduce waste and pollution, starting at highly reduced sampling and production minimums, and localised production to save time and reduce the impact of transportation.

The design tool Create provides the ability and creative freedom to design a complex (3D) knitted fabric without the otherwise necessary technical and material expertise or knowledge of the advanced stitching techniques and complicated machinery. The textile packages offered by ByBorre use responsible materials, with about 50% of the packages being mono-material, meaning that the textile composition consists of a single raw material only to substantially increase recyclability. This also applies to the Textiles from the ready-to-order library.

The new paradigm

With new European legislative standards on its way to ensure that textiles will be long-lived, free of chemicals and respecting the environment and human rights, the demand for an alternative take on textiles is even more pressing. Incentives such as the Extended Producer Responsibility will shift the responsibility to producers and brands. Therefore, ByBorre delivers a textile passport with detailed information on material origin, composition and recyclability.

Strategic partnerships and collaborations with industry leaders such as The Woolmark Company, Mayer & Cie., Santoni, Avery Dennison, Indorama and educational institutes such as Parsons, Fashion Institute of Technology and Amsterdam University of Applied Science combine with years of R&D, innovation and knowledge, creating an open-source environment that encourages participation, collaboration and open communication.

Guus van Puijenbroek, director VP Capital, said: “As a family business with our roots in workwear, we are convinced that with our capital and network we can contribute to solutions for social and planetary challenges in today’s world. Especially through actively engaging with our investments, by making our investments more sustainable and by seeking cooperation to join forces with other impact investors such as Invest-NL. We are pleased to contribute, together with ByBorre, to sustainable innovations that are necessary in this industry.”

www.byborre.com