Denmark's Bestseller invests in US-based company Ambercycle

The investment contributes to Bestseller’s ultimate ambition of becoming circular by design. During 2021, Bestseller’s investment arm for sustainable fashion, Invest FWD, landed investments with four innovative companies. Firstly, an announcement of the Finnish innovator Infinited Fiber Company followed by further investments in Circular Systems, Nature Coatings and Evrnu - all three based in the US.

The latest addition, Ambercycle has developed a pioneering process for used polyester textiles that separates and purifies post-consumer textile waste at the molecular level to produce regenerated materials that can be crafted into new garments. Over the past few years, Ambercycle has proven its technology via its pilot plant in Los Angeles. With its newly raised funds, the company plans to scale up the production of their innovative material cycora, which has already been used in several successful collaborations, Bestseller said in a press release.

"When a garment can no longer be used or resold, we want to make sure that it doesn’t end up as waste. Ambercycle shares our mission to transform worn-out clothing into a resource with the greatest possible value. Additionally, they specialise in recycling polyester, which is usually dependent on crude oil. By focusing on this integral systemic shift, which we work for as well, Ambercycle has proven to be an interesting investment case and business partner for us,” Camilla Skjønning Jørgensen, Bestseller’s sustainable materials and innovation manager said in a statement.

“The transition to circularity in fashion is inevitable. We are building an ecosystem in which materials can exist in harmony with humans and the environment. Our breakthrough molecular regeneration process enables a clear vision for circularity, in which fashion can flow in and out of our lives. Not only will this improve the sustainability performance of the items in our closets, but it builds a new way for us to interact with our materials,” Shay Sethi, co-founder and CEO of Ambercycle said.