The Weekly Deal CW19/24 - Re-Fresh Global
The Weekly Deal CW19/24 - Re-Fresh Global
One startup to watch, once a week. Re-Fresh Global is disrupting the textile industry through its ground-breaking technology which transforms textile waste into new raw materials.
#material #sustainability #circulareconomy
🥜 In a nutshell
Company: Re-Fresh Global
Industry: Advanced Materials, Recycling, Manufacturing
Sub-Industry: Textile, Nanotechnology
Year Founded: 2021
HQ: Berlin, Germany
Stage: Seed
Founders: Revital Nadiv, Viktoria Kanar
Funding Amount: 1.1M€
Main Investors: Earlybird Venture Capital, IndieBio, Serpentine Ventures
In a sentence: Re-Fresh Global is disrupting the textile industry through its ground-breaking technology which transforms textile waste into new raw materials.
🔭 The Context
In today's world, textile waste poses a significant environmental challenge, contributing to pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and resource depletion.
Traditional disposal methods often lead to further environmental degradation, highlighting the urgent need for innovative solutions to address this issue.
This challenge is especially relevant with the concept of Fast Fashion:
Let’s delve into some of these issues:
Environmental Impact of Production: The fashion industry is one of the planet’s most polluting and resource-intensive sectors. The entire lifecycle of textiles, from raw material extraction to manufacturing, dyeing, and finishing, consumes vast amounts of energy, water, and chemicals. These processes contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and habitat destruction.
Oversupply and Unsold Garments: As many as 40% of clothes made each year—equivalent to 60 billion garments—remain unsold. These excess items end up in warehouses, destined for landfill or destruction. The lack of transparency regarding production volumes exacerbates this problem. Brands often keep the actual number of unsold products a secret, fearing public backlash.
Wasted Money and Lost Business: When garments go unsold, it results in wasted resources and financial losses for manufacturers and retailers. Overproduction leads to excess inventory, which ties up capital and storage space. Smaller businesses, in particular, struggle with managing unsold stock.
Incineration and Landfill: Textile waste contributes to the volume of waste sent to incinerators and landfills. These disposal methods have negative environmental consequences, including air pollution from incineration and soil contamination from landfills
Re-Fresh Global Solutions
Re-Fresh Global, a German startup, emerges at the forefront of the sustainability movement, offering a groundbreaking approach to textile waste management and resource regeneration. By harnessing advanced bioprocessing techniques, Re-Fresh Global converts textile waste into into premium-quality nanocellulose and bioethanol.
Additionally, the residual waste from this process is utilized to produce multifunctional, purified pulp, ensuring a truly zero-waste solution. This innovative approach not only rescues textile waste from landfills but also reduces greenhouse gas emissions and conserves water resources, making a significant positive impact on the environment.
Re-Nano
A patented microfibrillated cellulose regenerated from textile waste. Biodegradable, resilient, and versatile, its myriad applications include packaging, paper, and pharmaceuticals.
Biodegradable, bio-based, and non-toxic, Re-Nano can be used to create the next generation of plastic-free packaging.
Re-Nano can be also used to manufacture extremely lightweight and strong tubular structures such as bicycle frames.
Other applications are related to footwear and printed electronics.
Re-Thanol
In a feat of modern-day alchemy, Re-Fresh can transform textile waste into sustainable new fragrances and other beauty and chemical products.
Re-SanPulp
A textile pulp made out of recycled natural and synthetic fibers. It’s a customizable material that can be used to create non-wovens, construction materials, and much more.
Re-SanPulp can be used to manufacture sustainable, non-woven car interiors that meet the highest quality and performance specifications. From trunk liners to seat upholstery, seatbelt covers to dashboard insulation, and car mats to door trimmings, Re-SanPulp can be seamlessly integrated into a range of eco-friendly parts within the automobile industry.
🔍 Some Info
📈 Market Size
The global textile recycling industry was worth $4.54B in 2021 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.7% to reach $5.91B by 2030. The market for multifunctional pulp is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9% to attain $52B by 2026. European non-woven production grew by over 7.2 percent to 3,075,615 tons (and 85.9 billion sq. m.) with total estimated sales of €9.5M. The nanocellulose market is expected to grow from $297M in 2020 to $783M by 2025, at a CAGR of 21.3%. The global bio-ethanol market is valued at $60B in 2020 is expected to reach US $78B by the end of 2026, growing at a CAGR of 3.7% during 2021-2026.
👨🏻🔬 Technology & IP
The core technology of Re-Fresh is patent pending. It is based on an enzymatic hydrolosis and fermentation - a process that can be applied to mixed textile fibers, resulting into the dissolvement of plant-based fibers into a liquid, leaving the synthetic fibers behind. The uniqueness of this process is that they can use the majority of textile waste feedstock, which is mostly based on cotton-polyester. This makes them one a few zero waste solutions in textile recycling.
🛒 Business Model
The business model is B2B. It involves selling upcycled raw materials to industries as a sustainable alternative to virgin materials, and establishing an end-to-end microfactory system that can be replicated globally through franchising or licensing.
🤝 Team
2 Co-founders + 4 advisors + 6 full-time members
💰 Financials
Re-Fresh Global exceded their revenue projections for 2023 achieving 115,000 euros (15% more than planned). They raised 1.1M€ so far from players like Earlybird Venture Capital, IndieBio and Serpentine Ventures.
🥊 Competitors
Re-Fresh Global faces several competitors (Ambercycle, Carbios, Circ, Infinited fiber, Recover, Re:Necell) in the textile recycling industry market, but unlike others who focus solely on a specific type of fiber—such as cotton or polyester—they work with all types of fiber.
❓Q&A with the Team
We had the chance to ask some questions to Viktoria Kanar, Co-Founder and CEO at Re-Fresh Global.
1. Why are you the best team to build this?
With over 20 years of combined experience in the fashion and textile industries, founders Viktoria and Revital have served major international brands like Disney, Fila, Fendi, and H&M. From direct engagement in garment production to orchestrating fashion shows at global events, we possess a deep understanding of the industry's ecosystem, enabling us to adapt our offerings to all stakeholders.
Recently, we've focused on innovation. Revital managed Israel's first Fablab and collaborated with industry giants such as Microsoft, while Viktoria built communities of fashion tech entrepreneurs, collaborating with major international players like Google, eBay, and Amazon inIsrael. With this background, we've assembled a team of experts from the textile industry who share our passion for addressing the issue oftextile waste.
2. What progress has been made?
Our track record includes the successful execution of 10 Proofs of Concepts (POCs), which underscores our commitment to fostering valuable commercial collaborations. 2023 is the first year than we started our commercial activities. This included a major partnership with the Volkswagen Group, several fashion brands as well as MEAVO, a manufacturer of acoustic phone booths for whom we are producing acoustic panels.
3. What is your fundraising situation?
Our financial results show outstanding achievements, with significant success in fundraising to date of €1.1 million.
3. What are your next steps?
Our roadmap in next 3 years includes a demo plant, scaled production, patent acquisitions, team growth, customer acquisition, and a successful Series B funding round. First on the agenda is the establishment of a cutting-edge demo plant, showcasing our innovative technologies. Following this demonstration, our focus shifts to fully scaled production, marking a significant leap forward in delivering our solutions on a larger scale. Simultaneously, we are committed to innovation, aiming to secure four patents that will solidify our industry leadership. To support these initiatives, we plan to grow our team to 30 dedicated individuals who share our passion for sustainability. Additionally, building strong partnerships is paramount, with a target of acquiring 40 customers who value our unique offerings.
Many thanks to Viktoria for the interesting conversation!
👨🏻💻 My Critical View
Re-Fresh Global is a compelling startup tackling a significant environmental challenge in the textile industry. Here's a breakdown of my view:
The Problem: Textile waste is a growing problem, polluting landfills and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Re-Fresh directly addresses this with a sustainable solution. (Strong)
The Feasibility: Re-Fresh's enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation process seems promising, demonstrated by successful POCs and partnerships. However, wider adoption hinges on production scale-up and cost competitiveness. (Promising, needs validation)
Uniqueness: While competitors exist, Re-Fresh's ability to handle mixed-fiber waste and achieve near-zero waste is distinctive. (Strong)
Scalability: The franchising/licensing model for microfactories offers scalability, but replicating technology and quality control across locations requires careful planning. (Promising, needs execution)
Business Model: Selling upcycled materials and microfactory systems (B2B) is a sound model, but depends on customer adoption and long-term contracts. (Moderate)
Market Potential and Competition: The market for sustainable materials is sizeable and growing, but competition is fierce. Re-Fresh's focus on versatility positions them well. (Strong with execution risk)
Team: The founders' experience in fashion and recent focus on innovation is a plus. The planned team expansion reflects an understanding of future needs. (Strong)
Overall, Re-Fresh Global possesses a promising solution for a critical problem. Their focus on scalability and building a strong team is crucial for future success. I recommend keeping an eye on their progress, particularly their ability to achieve large-scale production and customer acquisition.
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