PARIS — French start-up Syntetica has raised $30 million in a series A funding round backed by Lululemon and manufacturer MAS Holdings, as the textile industry looks for ways to scale recycling of synthetic fibers from discarded clothing.

The funding will support the development of Syntetica’s first commercial demonstration facility in France, where the company aims to industrialize a patented process that can recycle two major types of nylon — nylon 6 and nylon 6.6 — in a single process.

Most existing nylon recycling technology requires different nylon types to be separated before they can be processed, limiting the amount of post-consumer textile waste that can be recovered. Syntetica’s technology is designed to process mixed nylon waste, potentially expanding the pool of materials available for recycling.

The round was led by Bpifrance’s Ecotechnologies 2 fund, with additional participation from Swen Capital Partners, existing investor EQT Ventures, and family offices linked to Peugeot, Etam and the largest shareholder of Indorama Ventures.

Nylon production reached around 7 million tons globally in 2024, according to Textile Exchange’s Materials Market Report. Yet recycled nylon accounts for only about 2 percent of the market, as technical and economic challenges have limited the recovery of nylon from used textiles.

For apparel companies seeking to reduce reliance on virgin fossil fuel-based materials, improving textile recycling has become a growing priority. But mixed fibers, complex garment construction and fragmented collection systems have made post-consumer recycling difficult to scale.

“For decades, mixed nylon waste has been considered too complex and too expensive to recycle at scale. We have shown that it is possible to recover high-value materials from the waste streams the industry has historically written off. This funding allows us to move from breakthrough chemistry to industrial reality and accelerate the transition to more circular materials,” said Syntetica cofounder and chief executive officer Marco Bertone.

The company, founded by Bertone and Louis Monsigny, is already working with brands including Victoria’s Secret and Etam, it said.

The demonstration facility will be developed through Syntetica’s partnership with Michelin’s Centre for Sustainable Materials in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The site is expected to help move the company’s technology from laboratory scale toward industrial production, with a target of processing hundreds of tons of textile waste annually.

MAS Holdings, one of the world’s largest apparel manufacturers, said collaboration between technology companies, brands and manufacturers would be essential to bringing recycling technologies to commercial scale.

“Recycling technology succeeds when brand commitment, manufacturing partnership, and industrial scale-up expertise all converge — and Syntetica is one of the few ventures in this space that has brought all of these together. We’re excited to support Syntetica to scale their technology by leveraging MAS’ apparel manufacturing expertise. We see this investment as a strategic move for the industry as a whole,” said MAS Holdings group innovation director Sid Amalean.

Syntetica said it plans to expand its technology platform beyond nylon into additional materials and applications, including textiles, automotive and specialty chemicals.

The company’s investors include French and European public funding programs focused on developing industrial capacity around strategic materials and waste processing. Bpifrance’s Ecotechnologies 2 fund, supported through the France 2030 investment plan, invests in companies developing technologies aimed at environmental and industrial transformation.

“Syntetica has developed a differentiated technology that addresses one of the textile industry’s most complex recycling challenges. We are pleased to support the company’s next phase of growth as it scales its technology and manufacturing capabilities in France, which is in line with our investment strategy,” said Bpifrance Green Ventures investment director Alexandre Wagner.

The fundraising comes as investment in textile recycling moves toward industrial-scale solutions, with brands and manufacturers seeking commercially viable ways to recover materials from increasing volumes of textile waste.