Start-ups news and archive

Inditex launches venture capital for tech and sustainable startups

Spanish fashion giant Inditex has announced the launch of a new venture capital as part of efforts to finance textile innovations and advance its own sustainability goals. The Zara parent company has assigned the management of the investment mechanism to venture capital firm Mundi Ventures, which is currently overseen by its founder Javier...

BusinessFeatured

Fundraising crunch could hit fashion start-ups

The fashion startup ecosystem is experiencing a significant downturn as founders grapple with an increasingly challenging fundraising environment. Recent data from Carta, a leading equity management platform, reveals a troubling trend of company closures that has been steadily rising over the past two years, with fashion-focused startups...

Business

Alumni HEC, Polytechnic Institute raise 2 million with artificial intelligence platform Veeton

Three alumni of the Parisian institutions École Polytechnique (Paris Polytechnic Institute) and HEC School of Management have raised 2 million euros to develop Veeton, a start-up that uses artificial intelligence to produce visuals for fashion brand photo shoots. The pre-seed fundraising was led by Founders Future and Armilar Venture Partners...

Business

Scotland’s ACS Clothing selected for Amazon’s Sustainability Accelerator

Amazon has named the 15 start-ups selected for this year’s Sustainability Accelerator, a four-week programme designed to pilot their technology within the marketplace giant. Now in its third edition, it marks the first time participants will have the opportunity to pitch their technology for trial in Amazon’s European operations. Among those...

Business

Textile sorting provider Eslando among Carbon13’s launchpad investments

Investment firm Carbon13 has named six ventures that it will invest in via its accelerator, the Venture Launchpad, including AI-powered textile sorting provider, Eslando. The startup, which aims to tackle textile waste in the industry, offers a solution that utilises AI and digital product passports (DPPs) to encourage brands and waste...

Business

Textile-to-textile recycling company Syre receives investment of 100 million dollars

Fresh-faced recycling company Syre has raised an additional 100 million dollars in a new funding round, according to a press release. The capital raised will be used to set up the first recycling and manufacturing facility in the US, which should be operationally active as early as the end of 2024. In addition to this, the money will be used to...

Business

Mango expands investment umbrella to fund alternative ridesharing start-up

Spanish retail giant Mango is growing its portfolio of investments to now fund Hoop Carpool, a start-up offering companies a mobility alternative allowing employees and students to share short-distance journeys. Made through the company’s Mango StartUp Studio accelerator, the investment comes in the form of a convertible equity loan, which will...

Business|Interview Featured

From catwalk to console: Swiss start-up Nak3d's digital fashion revolution

Nak3d is a Swiss startup that brings together the worlds of fashion, video games and artificial intelligence (AI). The company specialises in turning the latest fashion trends, brands and styles into digital assets that can be used in video games. This is referred to by Nak3d as 'g-commerce' – or game commerce. It allows video game players to...

Business

Care and repair platform Save Your Wardrobe wins 2023 LVMH Innovation Award

In what is now its seventh edition, the winner of the LVMH Innovation Award was revealed during a ceremony at the luxury conglomerate’s pavilion as part of the annual technology conference VivaTech, Paris. A total of 18 finalists had been shortlisted and showcased in the LVMH’s ‘Dream Box’ pavilion, selected from more than 1,500 startups that...

Business

Ellen MacArthur Foundation launches database for circular startups

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is beginning the roll out of the full version of its circular startup database, designed to help businesses explore startups and drive the acceleration of the circular economy. On ‘The Circular Startup Index’, 500 brands that are a part of the foundation’s community are already featured across a range of sectors,...

Fashion

Stitch Fix launches latest Elevate collection alongside six entrepreneurs

Online personal styling platform Stitch Fix has launched its newest Elevate collection as part of its annual programme designed to support POC-owned businesses. Looks from the collection, which is available to exclusively shop via Stitch Fix’s website, feature designs from six entrepreneurs of colour. Launched in 2020, the platform’s ‘Elevate’...

Business

Estée Lauder launches charitable fund for emerging women leaders

Beauty conglomerate Estée Lauder has announced the launch of a charitable fund set with the goal of supporting new generation women leaders. The Estée Lauder Emerging Leaders (ELEL) Fund hopes to challenge the gender stereotypes of leadership through the support of global organisations that provide opportunities, build communities and advocate...