Textile recycling has long run into a deceptively simple problem: nylon comes in multiple chemically distinct forms, and sorting them before processing is expensive, often impractical at scale, and frequently skipped altogether. The result is that most post-consumer nylon ends up incinerated or landfilled, even as apparel brands face mounting pressure to close the loop on synthetic materials.

Syntetica, a Paris-based deeptech company founded by Marco Bertone and Louis Monsigny, has built a patented process that sidesteps the sorting bottleneck entirely — recycling both Nylon 6 and Nylon 6,6 from mixed textile waste in a single unified process. The company has now raised $30 million in a Series A to move that technology from lab bench to industrial production.

Who's Backing It

The round was led by the Ecotechnologies 2 fund, managed on behalf of the French government by Bpifrance. Co-investors include:

  • SWEN Capital Partners
  • lululemon (a strategic bet from one of the world's largest activewear brands)
  • MAS Holdings, a major apparel manufacturer
  • EQT Ventures, a returning investor from an earlier round
  • Family offices of Peugeot, Etam, and Indorama Ventures' largest shareholder

Public support came from both Bpifrance and the European Innovation Council, reflecting how squarely this fits European circular economy policy priorities.

Why the Technology Matters

Most commercial recycling infrastructure is built around clean, pre-sorted manufacturing offcuts — the easiest material to process. Post-consumer textiles are far messier: blended fibers, dyes, coatings, mixed polymer types. Syntetica's process is specifically designed for this harder feedstock.

"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." — Marco Bertone, co-founder and CEO

The company is already working with Victoria's Secret and Etam, alongside other global apparel brands, suggesting real commercial traction before the facility is even built.

The Build-Out Plan

The $30 million will primarily fund construction of Syntetica's first commercial demonstration plant in France, developed in partnership with Michelin's Centre for Sustainable Materials in Clermont-Ferrand. The facility is expected to process hundreds of tonnes of textile waste per year — a meaningful step up from lab-scale operations, though still a proving ground before full industrial rollout.

The Michelin partnership is strategically significant: it ties Syntetica into an industrial network that understands polymer chemistry, manufacturing scale, and materials supply chains — all critical for what comes next.

Expansion Roadmap

Nylon recycling is the wedge, not the ceiling. Syntetica has signaled plans to extend its platform into automotive and specialty chemicals sectors, where nylon-based composites are widely used and end-of-life recovery is similarly underdeveloped.

What This Means for the Industry

For brands and manufacturers, the implications are direct. Lululemon and MAS Holdings investing here isn't philanthropy — it's supply chain strategy. As the EU's Extended Producer Responsibility regulations tighten and virgin synthetic material costs remain volatile, access to chemically recycled nylon becomes a competitive input, not just a sustainability credential.

Syntetica is entering a space where Aquafil (maker of ECONYL) and a handful of chemical recycling startups have been active for years, but mostly focused on pre-consumer waste or single nylon types. The multi-nylon, post-consumer angle is genuinely differentiated — if the Clermont-Ferrand plant can prove it at scale, the commercial opportunity expands significantly.