eBay Australia has awarded $100,000 to Australian textile recycler Dempstah, finalising the marketplace’s first-ever Circular Fashion Fund.
Dempstah founder Guy Dempster came ahead of two other finalists, RCYCL founder Belinda Paul and and The Very Good Bra founder Stephanie Devine, with both of them receiving $50,000 each as runner-ups.
eBay’s Circular Fashion Fund was established to help scale and develop the circular fashion economy.
Dempstah recycles Australian textile waste into spun yarn in collaboration with a network of international and local textile mills.
Its current product offering includes spun yarn suitable for knitwear production and recovered fibre, which can be used as an alternative to traditional synthetic fibre fill-in garments, homewares and furniture.
The textile recycler recently collaborated with the Salvos and the City of Sydney to take post-consumer waste from their stores and transform half a tonne into 5 ply cotton and wool blend yarn.
Dempster said the funding from eBay will go towards establishing a micro mill in North West Tasmania.
“This will allow us to house and operate fibre recovery machinery and develop greater insight into this milling process,” Dempster said.
“We’re grateful to eBay and the Australian Fashion Council, who are actively investing and driving circularity in the fashion industry.
Runner-up RCYCL provides a direct-to-consumer satchel where users can recycle their used clothing at the end of its life cycle. Clothing items are sent to a textile recycling partner to process at their partner Indian Mill to make new yarn or carpet underlay, depending on the fibre composition.
Meanwhile, The Very Good Bra is the maker of the world's first 100% compostable botanically circular bra that breaks down in three to six months in compost or eight weeks in a worm farm.
In addition to the funding received, the three recipients will enter into a three-month program of mentoring, networking and workshops to learn how to market and scale their business.
eBay’s Circular Fashion Fund is a global initiative that began in the UK in 2022. Over the next three years, eBay will continue to run the Fund with the goal of forming an international alumni of circular fashion businesses.
eBay Australia’s fashion lead Anne-Marie Cheney said circularity is the future of the fashion industry.
“Initiatives like eBay’s Circular Fashion Fund are an important step towards achieving that goal, and we’re incredibly proud to have launched it in Australia this year,” Cheney said. “We know the businesses awarded today will drive positive change in the fashion industry.”
The three finalists were chosen from an initial shortlist of seven, which emerged from an overall list of more than 120 applicants.
Participants were evaluated based on three criteria: innovation, circularity and business viability/scalability. Selected businesses showcased new or improved products or processes and offered creative strategies to address circularity in fashion. They also demonstrated scalability and a track record of success, indicating their ability to effectively utilise the funding.
“It’s incredibly inspiring to see the creativity and innovation across 2024 eBay Circular Fashion Fund Finalists,” Australian Fashion Council board chair Marianne Perkovic said.
“Along with government support and industry collaboration, programs like this are essential to expedite our efforts towards our goal of a circular economy by 2030 and net zero by 2050.”