Fashion for Good selects innovators during first virtual selection day

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Fashion for Good selects 13 new start-ups to join their Accelerator Program’s seventh batch. Due to the current circumstances surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, Fashion for Good held its very first virtual Selection Day, hosting the international audience of corporate partners and innovators through an online webinar. 21 innovators from around the globe joined the online meeting to pitch their ideas to Fashion for Good corporate partners and the wider ecosystem. 13 innovators were then selected from the group to begin the Accelerator Program immediately, says a press release.

Fashion-for-Good-selects innovators-virtual-selection-day

Figure: LEFT TO RIGHT, top to bottom: Michelle Zhu - CEO & Co-founder, Tinctorium; Edward Brial - CEO, HydroCotton; Philip Pienkos - Strategic Project Lead, NREL;  Ben Tomkins – Sr. Business Development Manager, Ortain; Casey Zweig – Director of Operations, Full Cycle Bioplastics; Jeffery Hsu – CIMO, Cooltrans; Luciano Bueno – CEO & Co-founder, Galy; Ross Polk – Director of Business Development, Full Cycle Bioplastics; Tammy Hsu – CSO & Co-founder, Tinctorium; Leigh Taylor – Head of Sale, Econic; Andrea Venier – Managing Director, Recycrom; Patrique Veille – COO, Bear Fibers; Benôit Illy – Co-founder, Fairbrics; Cam Chidiac – CEO, Dryfiber; Per Stenfo – Global Sales and Marketing, Imogo. Courtesy: Fashion for Good


From the 21 innovators pitching, 13 innovators were selected to join Fashion for Good’s Accelerator Program. The seventh batch is the first to participate in Fashion for Good’s restructured Accelerator Program which will run for nine months. As with previous Programs, the seventh batch of innovators will receive tailormade mentoring, personal guidance on impact assessments, funding support and market validation from Program partners, Adidas, C& A, CHANEL, BESTSELLER, Galeries Lafayette Group, Kering, Otto Group, PVH Corp., Stella McCartney, Target and Zalando as well as affiliate partners Archroma, Arvind, Norrøna, Vivo Barefoot and Welspun, to catalyze the implementation of their innovations at scale.

Previous Selection Days have been hosted in the Fashion for Good headquarters in Amsterdam, where corporate partners, innovators and key industry players convened for an extensive day program consisting of industry and pilot project focused workshops and panel discussions, keynote speakers, presentations and, of course, pitches from shortlisted innovators. Besides, the event provides an opportunity for guests to gather together with other professionals from across the industry, meet face-to-face and network during the lunch and post-Selection Day drinks. The virtual Selection Day attempts to capture the same experience online, hosting multiple workshops and panel discussions and providing scheduled times for open discussion.

With more than two years’ experience in running Accelerator and Scaling Programs, Fashion for Good has increased the duration of the Accelerator Program to better cater to the needs of the selected innovators, allowing them the time and means to develop their innovations and businesses further. The extended Program provides more opportunities with Program mentors and bespoke coaching, better preparing them for growth and eventual wide-scale implementation.

The selected innovators of the seventh batch are Bear Fiber, Cooltrans Technology, Dryfiber, Econic, Fairbrics, Full Circle Bioplastics, Galy, HydroCotton, Imogo, Nrel, Ortain, Recycrom and Tinctorium.

Bear Fiber - USA

Bear Fiber is developing a novel biotechnological cottonisation process and manufacturing platform for fiber production with hemp that uses less water and energy. The cotton-like hemp fiber and yarns can be easily spun with cotton to produce textiles and finished garments.

Cooltrans Technology - TAIWAN

Cooltrans Technology employs low-carbon, environmentally friendly inkjet and gravure printing technology and eco-friendly dyes for textile printing, renders delicate and vivid prints to textile fabrics.

Dryfiber - USA

Dryfiber provides fluorine-free durable water and oil repellent textile finish which is completely water-borne and can be applied through traditional finishing processes.

Econic - UK

Econic provides an innovative catalyst technology that facilitates incorporation of waste CO2 as a raw material into polyols, replacing up to 50% of traditional oil-based feedstocks. Waste CO2 is cheaper than oil-based raw materials, plus offers enhanced product performance and environmental benefits.

Fairbrics - France

Fairbrics provides a novel process to create ethylene glycol (a component of polyester) from waste CO2. The resultant chemical is identical both chemically and practically to petroleum-based ethylene glycol.

Full Cycle Bioplastics - USA

Full Cycle’s patented technology converts waste streams such as inedible food waste, agricultural by-products and used paper/cardboard into Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) bioplastics that degrade in the soil and the ocean.

GALY - USA

GALY engineers’ cotton in labs through the multiplication of cells directly into the cotton fiber, removing steps of traditional cotton farming. As a result, they can grow cotton without the use of pesticides or fertilizers, using considerably less water.

HydroCotton - UK

HydroCotton transparently grows sustainable cotton. HydroCotton is developing a technology for cotton agriculture that reduces water and fertilizer by 80%, while also being grown in an insecticide-free environment.

Imogo - Sweden

Imogo focuses on sustainable production processes, primarily in the textile industry. Their innovative new processes for dyeing textile materials that can dramatically reduce the wasteful use of water, chemistry and energy in the textile dyeing process.

NREL - USA

NREL works on the development of polyurethane for carbon capture, reuse and sequestration. They use microalgae as a feedstock to explore the production of various products for polyurethanes, polyurethanes, plastic composites to name a few.

Oritain - UK

Oritain provides a traceability innovation with science that originates from the criminal forensic field, using selected stable isotopes to identify a product region. They provide a unique and fast process with highly reliable, accurate results.

Recycrom - Italy

Recycrom is a dyestuffs range made using recycled, used clothing, fibrous material and textiles scraps made from cellulosic fibers. The dyestuff can color any cellulosic and natural fiber as well as polyamide.

Tinctorium - USA

Tinctorium produces natural, pre-reduced Indigo dyes that are a drop-in replacement for synthetic Indigo, free of impurities with the same performance as synthetic Indigo.