Fashion for Good helps with ‘fraught’ financial landscape for start-ups
Sustainability hub Fashion for Good has teamed up with investment firm Spring Lane Capital to help start-ups understand financing routes and unlock the capital needed to scale innovation in the textile industry.
The report, 'The Great Unlock: Closing the innovation commercialisation gap through project finance solutions', reviews the different types of capital available to close the funding gap within the commercialisation stage.
It discusses the benefits, requirements and opportunities related to project finance as a funding solution in this space, and highlights the roles that various stakeholders would need to play in order to bring this to life.
In line with keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees, the fashion industry is in a race to achieve net zero by no later than 2050. While existing solutions can significantly help reduce the impact of the industry, the scaling of innovations — in particular in next-generation materials, recycling and processing — is critical to enable a transition towards a net zero industry, said Fashion for Good.
The path to scaling these innovations, however, is fraught with financial hurdles. The transition from R&D to commercial viability demands substantial capital, and innovators often face a financing challenge when they arrive at this first commercial production stage. This results in a funding gap that prevents industry-wide adoption of new products and technologies.
