A growing number of investment rounds are bringing sustainability-centric endeavors and more often than not, sustainability-focused tech, to the fore, as consumers and shareholders, alike, continue to focus on the sizable role that retail – including fashion industry – plays in the larger climate crisis. With rising consumer awareness and resulting demands for action and transparency on this front, investors increasingly taking environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) factors into account when making decisions, and lawmakers across the globe pushing for climate-centric legislation in light of rampant greenwashing, we have compiled a (running) timeline of funding and M&A to provide a broad overview of sustainable investments in fashion and the broader retail space, and shed light on what the trajectory of this segment of the market looks like more generally …
Mar. 30, 2023 – Gen Phoenix Raises $18M for Recycled Leather Biz
Gen Phoenix, which boasts the title of “the leading producer of sustainable recycled leather at scale, raised $18 million in a new round led by venture capital firm Material Impact, with participation from Dr. Martens, InMotion Ventures, the investment arm of Jaguar Land Rover, and Coach and Kate Spade owner Tapestry. The funding round also includes existing investors ETF Partners and the Hermes GPE Environmental Innovation Fund. The company says it will use the new cash to “bolster growth for the business and further efforts to meaningfully tackle the world’s waste problem.” In particular, it will be focused on “reaching new partners, deepening current relationships, and scaling product innovations.”
Mar. 21, 2023 – Inditex to Invest €15M in Regenerative Nature Fund
Zara-owner Inditex will invest €15 million in non-profit Conservation International to expand and scale the work of the Regenerative Fund for Nature. Launched in 2021 by Conservation International and Kering, the initiative aims to “transform 1 million hectares of crop and rangelands into regenerative agricultural systems by 2026.” Inditex says that the investment “will work to enhance sustainability in the fashion industry, which is fundamentally dependent on agriculture for its raw materials.”
Mar. 7, 2023 – tex.tracer Raises €1.7M in Growth Capital
Tex.tracer has raised €1.5 million ($1.59 million) in growth capital from ROM InWest, HearstLab, Joanna Invests, and angel investors. The Amsterdam-headquartered SaaS platform “unlocks insightful supply chain information” for fashion/apparel brands and retailers, enabling them to access “verified data so they can work with suppliers to reach their sustainability goals” and ensure compliance with “upcoming rules and legislation.”
Mar. 1, 2023 – Circ Raises $25M in New Round
On the heels of closing a $30 million-plus series B round in July 2022 (led by the Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures and with participation from Zara owner Inditex), Danville, Virginia-based Circ has raised $25 million in a new round led by Zalando with participation from Avery Dennison and Korean outdoor apparel and footwear manufacturer, Youngone. The company – which developed a “technology system that returns clothes back to the raw materials” – will use the new cash to accelerate its engineering expansion and bring its first consumer products to market.
Mar. 1, 2023 – SESAMm Raises $37M in Series B2 Round
SESAMm has raised €35 million ($37 million) in a Series B2 round co-led by Elaia, a deep tech VC firm, and Opera Tech Ventures, the venture capital arm of BNP Paribas. A leader in natural language processing (NLP), which is a field of AI, SESAMm enables companies to track relevant ESG data by “generating insights for controversy detection on investments, clients and suppliers, ESG, and positive impact scores, among others.” The new funding will enable SESAMm to “further expand into U.S. and Asian markets, support technology development to generate AI-powered ESG and sentiment analytics, and hire key talent across sustainability, technology, sales, and marketing.”
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