Materials science company, Ambercycle, has raised $21.6 million USD thanks to financing from H&M CO:LAB, KIRKBI, Temasek, BESTSELLER’s Invest FWD, and Zalando. The funding will be used to invest in new materials and infrastructure.

Ambercycle is a Los Angeles-based company, focused on creating circular systems in the fashion industry. It looks to create what it calls “infinite textiles.” These are textiles that regenerate waste, reduce the need for more planetary resources and can be completely regenerated themselves. The aim is to create zero waste and close the loop on apparel production and consumption.

Founders, Shay Sethi and Moby Ahmed, work at the molecular level. In a process they call “ambercycling,” post-consumer textile waste is shredded, separated, purified and formed into pellets. The company’s first breakthrough material is called cycora®, a regenerated fabric made from these pellets.

The funds raised will go towards scaling up the production of cycora®. And it looks like Ambercycle needs it. LA streetwear designer, Justin Mensinger, has already made use of the innovative textile, as has H&M in its Circular Design Story collection last year. With the H&M Group providing a chunk of that funding and aiming to be fully circular by 2030, it’ll be looking to Ambercycle for more innovative materials that work at scale.

Ambercycle is obviously an innovative and driven company with big goals. Damir Hamzić, Head of Circular Plastic investments at KIRKBI, says, “In Ambercycle, we see a promising company within textile-to-textile recycling led by a highly dedicated management team and through this investment we want to support the further development of the company’s ambitious plans.”

At the heart of its circular ecosystem, Sethi says, is a vision in which “fashion can flow in and out of our lives.” The clothing we own won’t stay with us forever but that doesn’t mean it has to become waste on a landfill site. Instead, it can flow out of our wardrobes and into a lab to be regenerated. And one day, it’ll flow into someone else’s life as something entirely different.

Read more about Ambercycle’s infinite textiles on its website.

For more material innovation, check out Ralph Lauren’s new RLX CLARUS® Polo Shirt.