eBay invests $300k in Refiberd to drive circular fashion solutions
Summary
This funding is aimed to scale the impact of Refiberds cutting-edge AI system that can discern exactly what different fabrics are made of, allowing them to be accurately sorted and recycled. Since the Circular Fashion Funds launch in 2022, it has supported 27 businesses and by the end of 2025 will have invested a total of $1.2 million alongside over 200 hours of mentoring and upskilling from industry experts. In partnership with the fashions foremost councilsBFC, CFDA, FCG, and AFCeBay gives recipients unprecedented access and visibility into the industry to propel their businesss growth. eBay has championed recommerce since its inception and the fund is one of the many ways it continues to invest in tools and technology that fuel the circular economy and help drive the fashion industry to a more sustainable future. Country finalists included in the UK, which makes repairs easy with door-to-door service to keep clothes in use longer, (Made Out of Trash) in Germany, which offers a comprehensive upcycling plug-in to enable brands to seamlessly integrate scalable upcycling solutions, in Australia, which uses AI to streamline the fashion resale process across multiple marketplaces simplifying the clothing resale process, and in the US, which aims to help textile recyclers identify fiber composition through hyperspectral imaging and AI, who each received grants starting at $50,000 in their respective local currencies.