Fashion tech platform Vaayu acquired by Carbonfact

French sustainability platform Carbonfact has acquired its German competitor Vaayu Tech GmbH. The companies made a joint announcement today. The purchase price has not yet been disclosed.

The acquisition brings the two largest decarbonisation tools for the fashion industry under one roof. Existing clients will migrate to Carbonfact. The combined portfolio now includes over 300 apparel and footwear brands, including On, Ganni, The North Face and Ace & Tate.

Both platforms operate in the carbon accounting sector. While Carbonfact focuses on automating data collection and conducting Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), Vaayu concentrated on integrations with external systems and clearly presenting environmental impacts to the consumer.

A well-known practical example is the collaboration with French designer fashion platform Vestiaire Collective. Vaayu developed the “cost per wear” formula for this, allowing consumers to calculate the real cost of a purchase, meaning per wear. For Vinted, Vaayu's analysts calculated the environmental benefits of second-hand purchases compared to new ones.

Vaayu was founded in 2020, one year before Carbonfact, by founder Namrata Sandhu, former director of sustainability at Zalando. She successfully raised over 13 million dollars in growth capital for her startup from investors such as Flint Capital and The Garage.

The launch of both companies was a response to new European legislation on product transparency. At the time, an ambitious package of measures seemed imminent. Fashion and footwear brands needed to quickly gain insight into their suppliers and production processes and sought help in calculating their ecological footprint. Many of the plans on the Brussels agenda have since been suspended or postponed, partly due to the weakening of the so-called omnibus directive.

For major fashion brands, it remains crucial to have their data management in order, despite delays from Brussels. By 2030 at the latest, they must comply with strict European regulations under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), which also includes the Digital Product Passport (DPP).

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