Circular textile technology startup Syntetica announced that it has raised $30 million in a Series A funding round, aimed at supporting the commercialization of its nylon recycling technology, with investors in the round including athletic apparel company lululemon and apparel manufacturer MAS Holdings.
Founded in 2023 by Bertone and Louis Monsigny, Paris-based Syntetica develops chemical recycling technology that converts nylon-containing textile waste into recycled feedstocks for the production of new nylon materials.
Syntetica said that it has developed a solution capable of recycling both Nylon 6 and Nylon 6,6 from mixed textile waste in a single process, addressing one of the main hurdles to increased recycling for the difficult to recycle material. Nylon 6,6 is one of the most commonly used plastics in the textile industry for the production of clothing, sportswear and outerwear fabrics, and accounts for a substantial portion of the materials used by lululemon, with benefits including durability and toughness, which also make it difficult to recycle.
According to Syntetica, the financing comes as brands, manufacturers and policymakers seek new ways to reduce waste and strengthen material supply chains, while the need to identify and separate different nylon types remains one of the biggest technical barriers to recycling post-consumer nylon at scale, with recycled nylon currently accounting for only around 2% of the sectors 7 million tons of annual production.
Syntetica added that while most recycling technologies focus on clean production waste, its process is designed for post-consumer textiles, which account for around 80% of textile waste and represent one of the industry’s largest untapped recycling opportunities.
Marco Bertone, co-founder and CEO of Syntetica, said:
“For decades, mixed nylon waste has been considered too complex and too expensive to recycle at scale. We have shown that it is possible to recover high-value materials from the waste streams the industry has historically written off. This funding allows us to move from breakthrough chemistry to industrial reality and accelerate the transition to more circular materials.”
According to the company, the new capital will support the planned construction of its first commercial demonstration facility in France, bringing the technology from laboratory scale to industrial production, and targeting the processing of hundreds of tons of textile waste each year. The demo plant will be developed through the company’s partnership with Michelin’s Centre for Sustainable Materials in Clermont-Ferrand.
While nylon remains the initial focus, Syntetica said that it plans to expand its technology platform into additional materials and applications over time, including opportunities across textiles, automotive and specialty chemicals.
The funding round was led by the Ecotechnologies 2 fund managed on behalf of the French government by Bpifrance, with participation from SWEN Capital Partners, lululemon, MAS Holdings, existing investor EQT Ventures, and the family offices of Peugeot, Etam and Indorama Venture’s largest shareholder. The round also included commitments from public institutions including Bpifrance (French public investment bank) and the European Innovation Council.
Sid Amalean, Director, Group Innovation at MAS Holdings, said:
“Recycling technology succeeds when brand commitment, manufacturing partnership, and industrial scale-up expertise all converge – and Syntetica is one of the few ventures in this space that has brought all of these together. We’re excited to support Syntetica to scale their technology by leveraging MAS’ apparel manufacturing expertise.”
