Ravel, a textile recycling startup based in Seattle, recently closed its preseed funding round. The round was led by At One Ventures, with significant participation from Collateral Good and backed by Collaborative Fund, Climate Capital, Better way Ventures and Moonstone VC.
Ravel says the funding marks a critical step in its mission to bring sustainable, closed-loop “purification recycling” for blended textile materials, adding that its process addresses two of what it claims are the fashion industry’s biggest challenges—the effective recycling of blended material scrap and a price-competitive solution for low-impact sustainable raw materials.
Ravel is a textile-to-textile recycling company specializing in polyester and poly-elastane scrap to introduce textile-derived polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into the fashion industry. The company’s process removes dyes and contaminants at a “competitive cost.”
Citing Ellen MacArthur Foundation research, Ravel says the global fashion industry is responsible for approximately 92 million tons of scrap annually, with the majority of it being hard-to-recycle blended materials. It is estimated these garments are worn seven to 10 times before being discarded, with a significant portion ending up in landfills or incinerators. Ravel says current recycling methods, including PET bottle “downcycling,” fail to address the issue of the development of scalable systems that can recycle complex blended material textiles back into high-quality fibers for use in new textiles.
“The bottom of the waste pyramid is being ignored,” Ravel CEO Zahlen Titcomb says. “I’ve seen firsthand how crucial an upheaval is to get sustainable materials on track. We need solutions that are economic, environmental and truly innovative—now. That’s why we created purification recycling: a new path toward a circular economy.”
Ravel partners with manufacturers and brands to unlock textile circularity. Through its purification recycling process, the company says it turns textile scrap into rPET pellets that are ready to be made into the same clothing they came from. The company says its process is low on energy consumption and preserves the quality of base materials while safely removing contaminants.
“Do we have a consumption problem? Probably,” Titcomb says. “Do we have a waste problem? Absolutely. Until we bring obvious economic solutions to the forefront, adoption of sustainable materials and circular economy models will keep bouncing between green premiums and clever marketing. Ravel is here to change that. Our purification recycling for blended fibers will redefine how our generation views and values materials.”
Ravel claims that as mandates requiring PET bottles to be recycled back into bottles escalate and create rPET scarcity for apparel, it provides a new transparent and low-carbon supply chain, enabling brands to meet ambitious sustainability goals and regulatory demands without compromising on cost or quality.
“At Collateral Good, we only invest in groundbreaking solutions that drive sustainability and innovation,” the Switzerland-based investor says. “Ravel’s pioneering approach to textile recycling addresses one of the fashion industry’s most pressing challenges—blended fiber waste. Their closed-loop purification process offers a scalable, energy-efficient alternative to traditional recycling, ensuring high-purity textile-derived rPET while significantly reducing carbon emissions and landfill waste. With strong partnerships and a clear pathway to commercialization, we are excited to support Ravel as they lead the charge toward a truly circular textile economy.”
