Patagonia funds Swiss company to develop textile treatments
Outdoor company Patagonia has invested in a Swiss textile chemical company as part of its $20 Million & Change venture fund launched in 2013 to help ‘like-minded’ companies.
Beyond Surface Technologies was founded in 2008 and claims textile treatments can be based on natural raw materials without sacrificing performance or reducing the lifespan of products. One of its finishing products was recently awarded the USDA Certified Biobased Product Label.
“This is the tension we feel every day, making the best technical products for our core sports and working to fulfill our environmental commitments,” said Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario. “We look for better, cleaner, safer ways to do things, we apply our own R&D and look for brilliant companies to partner with. Beyond Surface Technologies has the potential to help Patagonia and our entire industry get to the next level of chemical safety without compromising performance, and we’re very excited to invest in their success.”
Patagonia plans to share any breakthroughs with the outdoor industry in order to amplify the environmental impact.
Matthias Foessel, CEO of Beyond Surface Technologies said, “Patagonia’s investment gives us the opportunity to accelerate testing and reduce time to market for our pipeline of groundbreaking new treatments for the entire apparel industry.”
In 2012, BST entered into a licence agreement with the University of Manchester to commercialise a formaldehyde-free finishing technology, widely used in easy-care finishing of cotton shirt and trouser fabrics.
