Unfolded has raised £1.2m to accelerate its mission to remove waste from the fashion industry and create a more sustainable way to shop for clothes.
The funding round was led by Techstart Ventures, with Solid Bond, FJ Labs, Sweetspot Capital and Pareto Holdings participating alongside angel investors.
The Edinburgh-based ethical clothes production platform makes clothes without this waste by designing every item in conjunction with shoppers - and then only producing after orders are taken.
By removing the waste from clothing production, Unfolded aims to create significant margin improvements, which are shared between offering consumers sustainable clothes at affordable prices, higher wages for workers and funding children to learn to read and write around their factories.
For the past year, the start-up has been running its own brand, This is Unfolded, as well as partnering with community-focused creators and organisations to enable them to make their own clothing ranges. The first partnership saw the launch of Drop 01 with media outlet Who What Wear UK.
Founded just last year, company has already grown to more than 10,000 customers in the UK, led by the team behind Lost Stock and Mallzee Insights.
Cally Russell, chief executive and co-founder - alongside Jamie Sutherland and Hilde Frydness - said: “Fashion is one of the most wasteful industries on the planet and the second biggest polluting.
“We’ve spent years trying to work with retailers to drive change in the industry to make it less wasteful and better for the planet; sadly though many of them don’t want to change.
“This pre-seed investment enables us to amplify our mission with the insights and expertise brought by these investors; from backing some of the worlds best known tech platforms to real retailer insights.”
Calum Forsyth, investor at Techstart Ventures, added: “We’ve been impressed by the Unfolded team’s ability to develop innovative products for the fashion industry, and we’ve seen them build truly engaged communities.
“Alongside their own D2C offering, we’re excited to see the Unfolded technology being used by leading brands and organisations to offer a more sustainable option for their own apparel.”
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