Circular fashion and textile technology group Infinited Fiber Company has secured EUR30 million (US$35.5 million) in a new financing round completed last week led by apparel brands including Adidas and Bestseller.
Infinited Fiber Company’s technology turns cellulose-based raw materials, like cotton-rich textile waste, into Infinna – a regenerated textile fibre with the natural, soft look and feel of cotton. Infinna is biodegradable and contains no microplastics, and at the end of their life, garments made with it can be recycled in the same process together with other textile waste.
New investors joining the funding round include Adidas, Invest FWD A/S – which is Bestseller’s investment arm for sustainable fashion – and investment company Security Trading Oy.
According to Infinited, the new funding will enable it to prepare for the flagship factory investment in Finland and to increase production at its pilot facilities between now and 2024.
Infinited unveiled its Finnish factory plans last April in response to the strong growth in demand from global fashion and textile brands for Infinna. The factory, expected to open in 2024, will use household textile waste as raw material and have an annual production capacity of 30,000 metric tons.
“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,” said Petri Alava, CEO and co-founder of Infinited Fiber Company.
“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.”
According to Textile Exchange, the global textile fibre market is estimated to grow 30 per cent to 146 million metric tons by 2030 from 111 million metric tons in 2019.
“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,” said Katja Schreiber, senior VP sustainability at Adidas.
