Fairbrics Raises €22M in Funding

fairbrics

Fairbrics, a Paris, France-based sustainable chemical company developing technology that converts CO2emissions into high value polyester through a circular manufacturing approach, raised €22 M in funding.

This included:

  • €17M from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation Program, and
  • €5M from Partners to the Technology Upscaling Project.

The company intends to use the funds to bring its solution to market. The EU’s grant was awarded to a consortium coordinated by Fairbrics that brings together 13 partners from 7 countries throughout Europe, ranging from upstream and process development experts (i.e. engineering design, CO2 capture, chemical reuse, electrolyzer) to final product specialists (i.e. Faurecia for automotive, Les Tissages de Charlieu for textile). To prompt societal impact, the project also includes an educational component and, together with academic partners, it will develop learning and training resources on CO2 valorization for young professionals, university students and lifelong learners.

The combined funds will be used to upscale Fairbrics’ technology, first in a pilot line of 100 kg/day by 2024 and later, by 2026, in a 1 ton/day demo plant. The primary aim is to fight climate change and accelerate energy intensive industries’ decarbonation by replacing fossil-based polyester with CO2-based polyester, using a circular approach that recycles CO2waste fumes from chemical plants into high value textile products. Fairbrics targets sectors employing polyester as a main material: clothing but also sports equipment, automotive and packaging.

Led by Benoît Illy, Cofounder and CEO, Fairbrics has developed a patented technology platform that converts CO2 emissions into high value polyester fibers, providing energy intensive industries with environment-friendly and economically viable solutions. The company has secured partnerships with major fashion brands such as H&M, On-Running and Aigle. Next to clothing, Fairbrics intends to deploy its technology to address other industries that employ polyester as their main material such as automotive and packaging.

Next to Fairbrics, participants to the Technology Upscaling Project include The University of Antwerp (Belgium), TECNALIA (Spain), Lappeenrannan Lahden teknillinen yliopisto (Finland), AIMPLAS (Spain), CiaoTech (Italy), Deutsche institute fur textil- und faserforschung denkendorf (Germany), CITY OF LAPPEENRANTA VILLMANSTRAND (Finland), DIGIOTOUCH OU (Estonia), Faurecia (France), Naldeo (France), SurePure (Belgium), Les Tissages de Charlieu (France).

FinSMEs

17/01/2023