Refiberd is extending its streak.
Following a trailblazing win in June, the Cupertino, Calif.-based textile recycling startup has signed an agreement with PDS Ventures for additional funding and resources.
Refiberd‘s primary strategy is a plug-and-play approach, deploying its technology directly into existing sorting and recycling operations rather than building its own facilities. In essence, Refiberd’s AI model can accurately detect garment material composition—of interest to PDS, as it addresses a familiar bottleneck where many sorting systems have previously fallen short.
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“I think the first time that we all met was at the H&M Global Change Awards in 2023—that was probably one of Refiberd’s first moments of real acknowledgement, when we got legitimate funding and started to see traction,” co-founder and CEO Sarika Bajaj said.
She emphasized the importance of partners who can open up production opportunities and create a “halo effect” that helps new technology gain traction in an industry that can be difficult to crack without an existing network. Coming from AI and engineering backgrounds rather than fashion, Bajaj and co-founder Tushita Gupta leaned on partners to bridge the gap.
“The real unlock for us with PDS is that they can play both sides—moving conversations forward with customers, and also backing us financially,” she continued. “That’s the difference between surviving versus not, especially as market conditions get more strained.”
On its way to scoot past the $1 billion turnover mark this year, PDS Limited works with more than 600 factories around the world to provide manufacturing sourcing and brand solutions to various global brands and retailers. The Mumbai-based group reported consolidated revenues of 105.77 billion rupees—about $1.27 billion—for fiscal 2023. Its investment arm, established in 2018, earmarked roughly $50 million over six years to back early-stage companies in material science, circular solutions and fashion technology.
“We see about $100 million worth of garments coming through the recycling pipeline, but less than 2 percent is actually recycled due to a lack of sorting infrastructure and fabric adulteration,” said Ankur Agarwal, head of venture investments for PDS Ventures. “That’s what, I think, Refiberd is trying to solve for.”
In June, the textile recycling startup took home Global Fashion Agenda’s second Trailblazer award, presented by GFA and PDS Ventures in Copenhagen at the Global Fashion Summit. Refiberd was shortlisted under the “closed-loop pathways” category and recognized for the potential systemic impact of its “pioneering technology.”
The tech layers a hyperspectral imaging system with artificial intelligence, designed for automaton. By merging various material detection methods, the result offers an integrated sorting solution to accurately find fiber composition and contaminant presence. It detects traditionally problematic materials—including trace amounts of spandex, nylon, and acrylic below 2 percent composition. More simply, it means that waste fiber(s) can be categorized based on its chemical composition. The contact-free system allows for a millisecond detection speed per garment.
“We’re currently working with partners all over the world, just because this supply chain is so global; key sorters and recyclers are present in numerous geographies,” Bajaj said. “Each individual camera can detect millions of items of clothes per year, so the capacity per unit is typically more limited by the customer supply chain—[such as] how fast their conveyor belts move, how fast is their manual sorting occurring.”
All the detected data is combined into a hyperspectral cube (something of a spectral fingerprint) and fed into a machine learning model. The tool is used to optimize the textile recycling chain, improve the garment authentication for the resale sector and otherwise bolster better traceability for textiles—in turn, it produces a prediction of the fabric material. By merging different material detection methods, the system can identify fiber composition and contaminants—like trace amounts of spandex, nylon and acrylic below 2 percent. The contact-free system allows for millisecond-speed detection per garment.
The system is designed to optimize textile recycling, authenticate garments for resale and bolster supply chain traceability.
Earlier this year, Refiberd signed a cooperative R&D agreement with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to advance textile feedstock characterization and analysis. In April, eBay named the startup its Circular Fashion Innovator of the Year, awarding it a $300,000 investment to support scaling. Just last week, co-founders Gupta and Bajaj were recognized by Vogue Business on its annual Innovators list of 100 figures with the potential to reshape luxury.
“For us, it’s quite simple,” Bajaj said of partner PDS and how its group and venture co-exist. “From our perspective, it’s the fact that there’s deep business expertise with the investment side—you can talk to both sides of the room.”
That duality also stands out to Yael Gairola. She’s a non-executive director for PDS Limited and senior advisor for PDS Ventures. With “a playground at the intersection of technology and sustainability within the fashion world,” she previously helmed materials science company Pangaia for two years and, previously, supply chain technology firm Coats Digital. Now, Gairola sits on multiple boards, including those of PDS and Refiberd.
“The investment thesis we have at PDS Ventures is very much related to sustainability at large,” Gairola said. “In the world of materials, there’s a very slow digestion period; it takes a long time to reach scale. The venture brings the money and relationships with other investors; the group adds value through the relationships it has built over the last 26 years. The proof is in the pudding—we put our money where our mouth is and make investments into those companies.”
