Advanced Functional Fabrics of America has announced the four winners of the third round of its Product Accelerator for Functional Fabrics (PAFF 3.0) program, selecting The Lycra Company, Gentex Corporation, Ecotune, and MacroCycle Technologies to receive technical support aimed at accelerating the commercialization of advanced textile innovations.
The selected companies will receive no-cost access to AFFOA’s engineering expertise, prototyping and testing facilities, manufacturing scale-up capabilities, and domestic supply chain network to help move innovative textile technologies from laboratory development to commercial production.
Supporting Innovation Across the Textile Value Chain
According to Sasha Stolyarov, the selected projects address key manufacturing challenges including faster product development, improved production efficiency, enhanced product quality, and the commercialization of sustainable, high-performance textile technologies.
The PAFF program is designed to bridge the gap between research and industrial manufacturing by helping companies validate technologies and prepare them for large-scale production.
Four Projects Focus on Digitalization, Sustainability and Recycling
The Lycra Company
The Lycra Company will work with AFFOA to integrate virtual garment prototyping into its product development process. Using advanced 3D garment simulation software, the project aims to reduce reliance on physical wear trials for products such as leggings and sports bras, shortening development cycles and accelerating time to market.
Gentex Corporation
Gentex Corporation will collaborate with AFFOA to advance automation in sewing operations used in protective helmet manufacturing. The project seeks to improve manufacturing efficiency, consistency and worker safety across the company’s U.S. production facilities.
Ecotune
Material innovation startup Ecotune will use AFFOA’s expertise to commercialize its 100% bio-based, plastic-free textile coating technology, developed as an alternative to conventional polyurethane (PU) and PVC coatings. Pilot-scale trials will evaluate compatibility with existing textile manufacturing infrastructure and support industrial scale-up.
MacroCycle Technologies
MacroCycle Technologies will accelerate commercialization of its SolvoGenesis™ textile-to-textile recycling platform, which converts post-consumer polyester waste into virgin-quality recycled PET resin while using more than 80% less energy than conventional polyester production.
AFFOA will assist in producing commercial-grade fabrics from recycled polyester, validating textile performance and connecting the company with domestic manufacturing partners to support market adoption.
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Strengthening U.S. Textile Manufacturing
AFFOA stated that the PAFF 3.0 program supports its mission of strengthening domestic textile manufacturing by helping companies overcome commercialization barriers through technical expertise, manufacturing resources and supply chain collaboration.
The latest group of awardees reflects growing industry investment in digital product development, manufacturing automation, sustainable materials and textile-to-textile recycling, all of which are expected to play an increasingly important role in the future of the U.S. textile industry.
