Unfolded, the Edinburgh-based sustainable and ethical clothes production platform launched by Cally Russell, has raised £1.2 million to accelerate its mission to remove waste from the fashion industry and create a sustainable way to shop.

The round has been led by Techstart Ventures with Solid Bond, FJ Labs, Sweetspot Capital, Pareto Holdings, participating alongside angel investors.

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

Unfolded makes clothes without this waste by designing every item in conjunction with thousands of shoppers and then only producing after orders are taken.

It has developed a unique factory-to-consumer supply chain working with some of the largest global logistic companies.

By removing the waste from clothing production Unfolded creates significant margin improvements, which are shared between offering consumers sustainable clothes at affordable prices, higher wages for workers and funding children around their factories to learn to read and write.

This is Unfolded was founded in 2021 by the fashion tech team behind; Lost Stock and Mallzee Insights.

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For the past year the 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. The first partnership saw the launch of Drop 01 with media outlet Who What Wear UK. The company has already grown to more than 10,000 customers in the UK.

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

Calum Forsyth, Investor at Techstart Ventures, said: “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.

“Alongside their own D2C offering, 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.”

Shaz Sulaman, founder of Solid Bond, said: “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’s strong growth proves that consumers want a better way to shop that is less wasteful, better for workers and allows the consumer to help decide what is made. We look forward to continuing to support the team as they deliver on their vision.”

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