reverse.fashion, a startup specializing in AI-powered textile sorting technology, has successfully closed its first pre-seed financing round, marking a significant milestone in its mission to automate textile sorting for reuse and recycling.The round was led by Kisora, with H&M Group Ventures joining as an investor.
Co-founder Mario Osterwalder expressed enthusiasm about the new partnership, stating:
“We’re thrilled to welcome our new investors. This support accelerates our roadmap to bring automated textile sorting for reuse to market—reducing sorting costs, improving capture of high-value garments, and enabling curated feedstock for specific customer groups.”
Driving Circular Transformation in Fashion
According to Laura Coppen, Investment Manager for Sustainable Fashion at H&M Group Ventures, the investment reflects H&M’s continued commitment to scaling circular fashion solutions:
“At H&M Group, we believe circular solutions are an essential component of decarbonising the fashion industry. reverse.fashion’s technology has the potential to unlock high-quality second-hand assortments. We’re investing to help scale the infrastructure the industry needs to make circularity work at bigger volumes.”
AI and Multi-Sensor Technology for Smarter Textile Sorting
reverse.fashion’s platform combines artificial intelligence with multi-sensor systems—including computer vision, Digital Product Passport (DPP) technology, and optional Near-Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy—to deliver automated, auditable, and demand-driven textile sorting.
By improving sorting accuracy and throughput, the company enables textile recyclers and resellers to reduce costs, enhance quality, and supply cleaner material streams for reuse and recycling, accelerating the transition to a circular textile economy.
Research-Driven Origins and Future Outlook
reverse.fashion builds upon two major R&D projects conducted collaboratively by circular.fashion and Technische Universität Berlin. These projects developed core computer vision and spectroscopy technologies that now serve as the foundation for reverse.fashion’s commercial platform.
The company plans to further develop and scale these technologies, positioning itself as a key enabler in the automation of textile sorting—a crucial step toward closing the loop in the global fashion and textile value chain.
