Levi’s invests in climate change-tackling start-ups
02/10/2019
Projects include rescuing excess fabrics to create new clothes, a data platform for garment factories and textile waste recyclers that enables end-to-end trading and tracing, and reinventing the way goods are sent and received.
The company said: “LS&Co believes that climate change is one of the most important issues of our time and a critical challenge for the apparel industry.
“Mitigating climate change and transitioning to a low-carbon, more circular future are vital to the health and well-being of the people who wear and make our products, and the future supply of raw materials needed to make those products.”
The recipients of the funding are:
• Christina Dean, CEO of The R Collective (Hong Kong)
The R Collective is an upcycled fashion brand that rescues brands' excess fabrics to create
clothes designed by award-winning sustainable designers to raise funds for Redress
• Ali El Idrissi, founder and CEO of UpChoose (San Francisco, US)
UpChoose is a sustainable consumption platform that designs smarter services, starting with a circular baby wardrobe solution through which new parents receive curated sets of organic clothing essentials at each phase of a baby's growth and send them back after use.
• Ashley Etling, CEO & co-founder of LimeLoop (Emeryville, US)
LimeLoop is reinventing the way goods are sent and received via a full-circle shipper solution and sensor-driven platform.
• Amanda Grogan, founder of Make It Black (New York, US)
Make It Black is an overdye re-manufacturer that collaborates with brands to transform pre- and postconsumer waste clothing into new by making it black. Make It Black is developing a circular garment overdye technology.
• Eleazar Guevara, co-ounder of Novabori (Tlaxcala, Mexico)
Novabori is a B2B company that works with brands to develop eco-friendly fabrics from recycled
materials such as cotton, polyester, wool, and acrylics.
• Molly Hemstreet, co-founder, The Industrial Commons/Opportunity Threads (Morganton, US)
The Industrial Commons provides educational tools for frontline textile workers responsible for
implementing the local circular economy. This project is calling special attention to the importance of workers’ role in the circular economy and engaging them in the tool development process.
• Marianne Hughes, founder and CEO of GetKno (London, England)
GetKno is a transparency platform for brands, factories and workers verifying worker happiness and pay and giving workers a voice.
• Ryan Huston, founder and general manager of Huston Textile Company (Mather, US)
Family-owned and operated business since 2013, Huston Textile makes high-quality fabrics sourced from domestic sustainable, organic, and climate beneficial fibres.
• Isaac Nichelson, co-founder of Circular Systems (Los Angeles, US)
Circular Systems is a new materials start-up that is developing innovative circular and regenerative technologies.
• Ann Runnel, founder of Reverse Resources (Talinn, Estonia)
Reverse Resources has built a software-as-a-service platform for garment factories and textile waste
recyclers to trade and trace waste end-to-end.
• Kushagra Srivastava, CEO of Chakr Innovation (Gurgaon, India)
Chakr Innovation is a three year-old start-up that developed a technology to capture particulate matter emissions from diesel generators and convert it into inks and paints.
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