Worn Again Technologies has completed its latest funding round, raising £27.6 million to support the construction of its new textile recycling demonstration plant in Winterthur, Switzerland.

This represents a milestone in the commercialisation of circular strategies for hard-to-recycle fabric blends, the company says. Worn Again counts Sulzer, Oerlikon and fashion retailer H&M as key strategic investors.

This latest investment round brings the company’s total raised funding to £42.9 million, representing the start-up’s most successful funding tranche since its founding. Showing strong backing for the company’s vision, the participation came from some existing partners and main stakeholders.

Worn Again Technologies is focused on enabling the creation of a more sustainable and resilient value chain based on zero-waste, circular strategies. The secured funding is dedicated to the realisation of a large-scale demo plant that will leverage ground-breaking polymer processing technologies to upcycle 1,000 tons of textiles per year. More precisely, the investment will help drive the expansion of the company and its setup, contributing to the commercialisation of a highly effective solution to reduce textile waste.

“We are extremely happy with the results of this funding round, which was our most successful so far,” CEO Erik Koep. “It demonstrates the strength and growing interest in our textile recycling framework. We are well-positioned to enter the next phase of our business growth, as we can get closer to offering large-scale commercial facilities for blended polycotton materials.”

“We strongly believe in Worn Again Technologies’ mission and are firmly committed to ensuring its success,” added Torsten Wintergerste, division president of Sulzer Chemtech and chairman of Worn Again Technologies. “This is why we have provided support through investments as well as with our leading polymer processing expertise and infrastructures. Even more, we have a close connection to the demonstration plant, which is being built near to our headquarters in Winterthur, and we are keen to see it operating as soon as possible.”

www.wornagain.co.uk