Unfolded, an Edinburgh-based sustainable and ethical clothing production platform, has raised £1.2 million in a pre-seed funding round.

Led by Techstart Ventures, the investment round saw participation from a range of sources, including Solid Bond, FJ Labs, Sweetspot Capital and Pareto Holdings.

Unfolded said the investment will enable it to accelerate its mission to reduce waste in the fashion industry and create new, sustainable ways to shop for clothing.

Commenting on the funding, CEO and co-founder Cally Russell said: “This pre-seed investment enables us to amplify our mission with the insights and expertise brought by these investors; from backing some of the world’s best-known tech platforms to real retailer insights.”

Shaz Sulaman, founder of Solid Bond added: “We are pleased to be able to back the Unfolded team as part of their pre-seed round. It is clear that the team’s background positions them in a great place to build a platform to change the way fashion works.”

Unfolded tackling waste

Research shows that as much as 30% of new clothing made each year is never sold.

Unfolded reduces this waste by designing and producing clothes based entirely on customer demands after orders are taken.

The Edinburgh-based startup has developed a unique factory-to-consumer supply chain, and works with some of the largest global logistics companies.

By removing the waste from clothing production, Unfolded said it creates significant margin improvements.

This means the firm is able to provide consumers with sustainable clothes at affordable prices, higher wages for workers and fund children to learn to read and write around their factories.

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Russell explained: “Fashion is one of the most wasteful industries on the planet and the second biggest polluting.

“We’ve spent years trying to work with retailers to drive change in the industry to make it less wasteful and better for the planet, sadly though many of them don’t want to change.

“Our experience to date showed us that to create real impact we need to take matters into our own hands and tackle the issue at source, thus Unfolded was born.”

This is Unfolded

For the past year, Unfolded has been running its own brand, This is Unfolded, as well as partnering with community-focused creators and organisations to enable them to make their own sustainable clothing ranges.

Founded in 2021 by the team behind Lost Stock and Mallzee Insights, the company has already grown to over 10,000 customers across the United Kingdom.

Calum Forsyth, Investor at Techstart Ventures, commented: “We’ve been impressed by the Unfolded team’s ability to develop innovative products for the fashion industry, and we’ve seen them build truly engaged communities.

“We’re excited to see the Unfolded technology being used by leading brands and organisations to offer a more sustainable option for their own apparel.”

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