Berlin-based, female-led Re-Fresh Global, a pioneering startup in the field of sustainable textile upcycling, has snapped a pre-seed funding round of €1.1 million. The round attracted many prestigious investors, including well-known companies and personalities from the international venture capital community and sustainability industry.
Stellar list of investors
The key investment came via the startup’s involvement in the Vision Lab incubator program and fund by Earlybird, a pan-European VC investor specialising in European tech innovators such as Ctrl and TastyUrban, and from Serpentine.vc, a Swiss venture asset manager.
Other investors who participated in the pre-seed financing include Frank Dupuis of DUPUIS INVESTMENT, an experienced investor in the real estate sector based in Germany, and Michael Ulbrich, Nevis and Accenture partner, who is a global sustainability leader for chemicals and plays a key role in promoting sustainable investments.
Also participating in the funding round are Ina Schlie, founder of Encourage Ventures and a driving force for sustainable innovation in Germany, Ute Zahn, coach and angel investor who has a passion for environmentally friendly startups, and IndieBio from SOSV VC, a San Francisco-based early-stage investor.
Eyes circular economy in the textile industry
Re-Fresh Global plans to use the fresh funds to strengthen its research and development activities to further optimise its Smart-Up Urban Microfactory process and significantly increase its capacity to process textile waste. In addition, the company will intensify its marketing and sales activities to bring its unique solutions to a wider audience and to build new strategic partnerships.
“The introduction of the IBA EU regulation from January 1, 2025, will mark a turning point in textile waste management. However, at Re-Fresh Global, we strongly believe that we should not wait until the future to take action. I am extremely pleased that we have so much support from particularly well-known investors in our project to transform textile waste into valuable resources. Together, we can tackle the challenges and bring about positive change in the industry,” shared Victoria Kanar, co-founder of Re-Fresh Global.
Upcycling of factory waste
Founded by Revital Nadiv and Viktoria Kanar in 2021 in Berlin, Re-Fresh Global drives a sustainable, end-to-end solution in the industrial sector through an innovative approach to upcycling. The company revolutionises the textile industry by transforming textile waste into high-value new raw materials such as nanocellulose, bioethanol, and multifunctional fibres through a unique upcycling process.
This groundbreaking concept is accessible to the industry via Smart-Up Urban Microfactory and can be used in a cost-covering way even for SMEs.
