The Renewal Workshop, an American provider of circular solutions for apparel and textile brands, has raised $5.5 million (€4.95 million) in Series A financing. The Oregon-based company is working with brands like The North Face, Eagle Creek, Osprey, Pearl Izumi and Prana to renew existing products, analyze company operations, and provide a “circular map” and workshops to implement greener practices.
The Renewal Workshop’s goal is to reduce landfill textile waste by 450,000 kilograms by 2025. It operates a zero-waste circular system that is intended to regain the full value of what has already been produced. Brand partners receive impact data on the amount of water, carbon and chemicals saved through their partnership. To date, over 90,000 kilograms of clothing have been diverted from waste in this system.
The company’s co-founders, Nicole Bassett and Jeff Denby, are pioneers in brand-driven “recommerce” in the U.S., where they built the first renewal facility in 2016. The company also sells renewed products from several of its partners directly on its website.
With this new investment, The Renewal Workshop is now also expanding into Europe. The first European renewal facility has already opened in Amsterdam, offering European apparel brands its full range of services, from circular business-model strategy to apparel and textile renewal services and recommerce management.
One of the two founders, Denby, will manage the new European operations from Amsterdam. Tamara Zwart, former European Director of Fashion+ for the Cradle to Cradle Institute, will take care of European operations.
The latest financing round has been led by various European venture capital and impact investors – Social Impact Ventures, Shift Invest and Quadia – with the participation of its existing U.S. investors: Closed Loop Ventures, Gratitude Railroad, Portland Seed Fund and High Meadows Investment Group.
