Smartex, a Portuguese startup founded in 2018, is using artificial intelligence to eliminate textile waste before it happens, capturing the attention of major investors including Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), H&M Group, and Tony Fadell, inventor of the iPod and Nest thermostat, CNBC reports.
Co-founder Gilberto Loureiro began working in textile factories as a teenager and quickly noticed how slow, manual inspection processes allowed production flaws to continue for hours, leading to massive amounts of discarded material, according to CNBC. After earning a master's degree in physics, Loureiro launched Smartex with the goal of digitizing defect detection using real-time vision systems and AI.
