LONDON — Nylon recycling start-up Syntetica has raised 4.2 million euros with a helping hand from the worlds of automotive, fashion and sports.
EQT Ventures led the seeding process, with other investors including Peugeot, Etam, Volta Circle, Better Angle, Pareto Holdings, Athletico Ventures and Bear Flag Capital, as well as French racing driver Jean-Éric Vergne, French entrepreneur Patrice Lafargue and former tennis player Paul-Henri Mathieu.
“[The 4.2 million euros] is really about doing two things. One is producing recycled materials for our customers and the other is taking on production technicians and engineers to help us scale up the process faster,” Marco Bertone, cofounder and chief executive officer of Syntetica, said in an interview.
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The start-up is in the midst of signing on a major fast-fashion player that Bertone couldn’t disclose yet. Right now it’s working with the lingerie brands Etam and Victoria’s Secret.
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Syntetica has its eyes on building a preindustrial plant in France, where the start-up is based.
Bertone is also exploring potential industrial developments in Asia since that is where many of the brands that Syntetica works with operate from. However, Europe remains a focus for the company for the next few years.
Innerwear brand Etam is currently working on a capsule collection using Syntetica’s recycled material process.
“We are ruthlessly focused on nylon today and extending it in particular to a bunch of different industries. We’re also researching into working with elastane,” Bertone said.
Syntetica was only set up nine months ago by Bertone and his cofounder, Louis Monsigny, who is in charge of the more scientific processes.
The nylon recycling specialist has launched a website that showcases its work and educates on what they’re trying to do. “We’re taking a pretty positive approach to climate change, we’re telling everyone we will make the change for them [through science,”\ Bertone said.