French deeptech startup Syntetica has closed a $30 million Series A funding round backed by activewear brand Lululemon and apparel manufacturer MAS Holdings, as the industry races to solve one of textile recycling’s most stubborn problems: separating and reprocessing mixed nylon waste.
The round was led by Ecotechnologies 2, a fund managed by French public investment bank Bpifrance under the government’s France 2030 plan. Other backers include SWEN Capital Partners, existing investor EQT Ventures, Indorama Ventures’ largest shareholder, and the family offices of Peugeot and Etam, taking Syntetica’s total funding to date to roughly $38 million.
Founded in 2023 by chief executive Marco Bertone and chemistry researcher Louis Monsigny, Syntetica has developed a process for recovering both Nylon 6 and Nylon 6,6 from mixed textile waste in a single step. The two polymer types are chemically similar enough that recyclers struggle to tell them apart, and most existing technology requires sorting before processing, a bottleneck that has limited post-consumer nylon recovery.
Bertone said volatility in petroleum-linked nylon pricing has pushed brands reliant on synthetic fibers for cost predictability to look harder at alternatives, adding that scalable solutions must be cost-competitive from the outset rather than carry a sustainability premium.
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The capital will fund Syntetica’s first commercial demonstration facility, developed with Michelin’s Centre for Sustainable Materials in Clermont-Ferrand, France, targeting hundreds of tonnes of textile waste processed annually. Rather than manufacturing yarn or fabric itself, Syntetica will produce recycled nylon pellets for conversion by partners such as MAS Holdings.
MAS Holdings, whose customers include Lululemon, Victoria’s Secret and Nike, is an unusually early-stage backer for a manufacturer. Sid Amalean, the company’s director of group innovation, said recycling technology succeeds when brand commitment, manufacturing partnership and scale-up expertise converge, and that Syntetica has brought those elements together.
For Lululemon, the investment marks its second bet on nylon recycling, after a $100 million round for Australia’s Samsara Eco that included a ten-year offtake agreement covering up to a fifth of its fibre portfolio. Bertone said Syntetica worked with Lululemon confidentially for roughly two years before the brand’s investment, calling it a deliberate strategy by a company he views as an industry leader on circularity.
Syntetica also faces rivals using enzymatic breakdown methods and chemicals group BASF, which has its own recycled nylon. Bertone framed the field as a shared undertaking, arguing the waste problem needs broader participation, not just one winner.
Recycled nylon still accounts for only a small share of the global market, and commercial output from the demonstration plant is expected within about 18 months. Syntetica, which has grown from two founders to a team of more than 20, plans additional facilities near waste sources and production hubs once the French site proves the technology at scale.