/ -- This year - the fashion industry saw a new perspective on what sustainable fashion means at Lakm Fashion Week. Delegates at Sustainable Fashion Day - Lakm Fashion Week witnessed India's first investor showcase for circular & sustainable fashion enterprises on Sustainable Fashion Day, 22nd of August. The Circular Changemaker's Showcase was organized by Intellecap's Circular Apparel Innovation Factory, an industry-led platform launched in partnership with Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail and The DOEN Foundation to drive a circular apparel & textile economy in India, along with the Circular Design Challenge of IMG Reliance and its partners R Elan and UN Environment.
The program - Circular Changemakers - was launched in June 2019, and received over 70 applications from across 21 cities in India. After going through a review by a selection committee and a three-day investment readiness bootcamp, six enterprises pitched their solution to a high-level investor panel, comprising of investment funds and business enablers such as Aavishkaar, Asha Impact, Fashion for Good, UN Environment, and corporates such as Mahindra Retail, and H&M Co:Lab. The innovators include:
Canva Fiber Labs: An alternative fiber and a material science company that uses a proprietary (provisional patented) technology to convert agriculture waste into textile fibers that are environmentally, socially, and economically superior.
Reverse Resources: An enterprise that maps and traces textile leftovers from fabric and garment production to enable data sharing from source of waste to recyclers and build efficiency of waste management and trading through digitalisation and software as a service.
Stylumia: An enterprise with an ecosystem of SaaS products that aim to address the top challenges of overproduction, efficiency, and waste through a proprietary 'Demand-Sensing' technology that uses big data at internet scale to efficiently decode the consumer demand.
Greensole: An enterprise focused on recycling discarded shoes to comfortable footwear, and keeping the waste away from landfills. Greensole upcycles and retails footwear to further create a self-sustaining venture and works with large corporates to handle their waste footwear.
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Saathi Eco Innovations: Saathi has developed a single platform technology to process different kinds of natural fibers into highly absorbent pulp that has multiple use-cases such as a 100% biodegradable and compostable sanitary pad made from banana fiber.
JSP Enviro: A technology company that has created a revolutionary product which conserves & treats effluents/wastewater while maintaining energy efficiency. Their Microbial Fuel Cell innovation is an effluent treatment technology that can generate electricity from processed effluents and treat the water for reuse.
The showcase was part of a larger effort of the Circular Apparel Innovation Factory (CAIF) and its partners to build the capabilities and the ecosystem needed to transition to a circular textile and apparel industry in India. One of the key ecosystem gaps identified is the limited visibility of innovative solution providers, coupled with limited scaling-support to these enterprises. The Change Makers Program was one response to address critical market barriers and catalyze strategic collaborations, investments, and partnerships among enterprises, corporates, investors, and other industry players.
Stefanie Bauer-Vemuri, Director, Circular Apparel Innovation Factory: "The enterprises showcased at Lakm Fashion Week highlight the variety of innovations that are emerging in India in the sustainable fashion space - from fibres to end-of-use and recycling solutions, all with the potential to make a difference in India's textile and apparel industry. We are excited to see such a positive response in the industry to join this first ever investor showcase, and are committed to organize more such events in the future that bring the ecosystem together on one platform."
Vineet Rai, Founder, The Aavishkaar Group: "We at the Aavishkaar Group pioneered the idea of impact driven sustainable investing in India, Africa, and South East Asia. As we look at the textile sector, and specially the apparel sector from the lens of circular economy and sustainability, we see the need for innovative ideas and startups to nurture these innovators, we need a flourishing ecosystem in addition to capital. Through Intellecap and CAIF, we hope to contribute to this process and see transformation sweeping through the Indian apparel industry."
About Circular Apparel Innovation Factory (CAIF):
Intellecap, supported by the DOEN Foundation launched the Circular Apparel Innovation Factory (CAIF) in 2018. CAIF is an initiative that brings together a variety of stakeholders in the apparel industry in India to shift the industry from its current 'take-make-dispose' approach, to one that is more circular across the lifecycle. CAIF's is an industry-led platform aiming to build a circular apparel and textile industry. Our mission is to build capabilities and the ecosystem needed for a transition towards a circular textile and apparel industry in South Asia. We leverage the Aavishkaar approach of creating impact at scale through providing access to capital, knowledge, and networks throughout the journey of a circular innovation.
About Intellecap:
Intellecap is a pioneer in building enabling ecosystems and channeling capital to create and nurture a sustainable & equitable society. Founded in 2002, Intellecap works across critical sectors like Agriculture, Livelihoods, Climate Change, Clean Energy, Financial Services, Gender & Inclusion, Healthcare, Water and Sanitation, and has delivered over 500 global engagements across 40+ countries and syndicated investments of over $500 Million USD in Capital. Intellecap through its presence in India and Africa, provides a broad range of Consulting, Research and Investment Banking Services, to Multilateral Agencies, Development Finance Institutions, Social Enterprises, Corporations, Investors, Policy Makers and Donors. Our common action platform, Sankalp Forum, one of the largest global inclusive development platforms, brings together the ecosystem to shape the way markets work for delivering the SDGs 2030. For more details please visit, https://www.intellecap.com/.
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