ByBorre – a Dutch textile innovation company – has raised € 16.9 million (US $ 18.3 million) in a Series B round led by a consortium of impact investors.
According to ByBorre, the investment will be used to accelerate the company’s international growth in key markets such as the United States, the Nordic countries and Italy, and to further establish the position of ByBorre as the leading platform for sustainable textiles.
ByBorre says it will continue to invest in platform development, its design tool ByBorre Create, the ready-to-order library ByBorre Textiles and to expand its network of industry partners.
Invest-NL and VP Capital led the round, along with existing investors SHIFT Invest and Amsterdams Klimaat en Energiefonds (AKEF).
A group of angel investors also contributed, including seasoned industry experts and entrepreneurs Charlie MacGregor (The Social Hub); Henk Jan Beltman (Tony Chocolonely); Patrick Munster (Scotch & Soda, Marie-Stella-Maris, Salle Privée); Bram de Zwart and Brian Garret (Hubs); Joris Pol (MediaMonks); and Geert-Jan Smits (Flinders). Rabobank’s scale-up banking team provided a long-term debt and a machine lease facility.
Borre Akkersdijk, Founder, ByBorre commented, “We challenge the old while delivering solutions for the new. The demand for textiles keeps growing, and so the need for a textile design and development solution that matches commercial feasibility, positive impact and creativity is ever more pressing. That’s why we’re here to stay.”
“Invest-NL is thrilled about its first investment in the textiles industry, one of the most polluting industries of today’s global economy. ByBorre’s ground-breaking platform technology and services enable a transparent ecosystem and hold tremendous potential to rethink both design and production of textiles. By enabling this frontrunner to scale up quickly, we believe it can play an important role in speeding up the transition towards a carbon-neutral and circular economy,” said Rinke Zonneveld, CEO of Invest-NL.
