eBay has announced it is expanding its Circular Fashion Fund, making the programme available to businesses and startups across the EU, Switzerland and Canada for the first time.
Now in its fourth year, the Circular Fashion Fund supports innovative solutions to extend the life of clothing and reduce textile waste, with eight selected businesses each receiving US$50,000 in funding. In addition, one business will be named the Global Winner and will have the opportunity to receive an additional US$300,000 investment from eBay Ventures.
Last year, eBay Australia awarded $100,000 to Australian textile recycler Dempstah as part of the fund. Dempstah founder Guy Dempster came ahead of two other finalists, RCYCL founder Belinda Paul and The Very Good Bra founder Stephanie Devine, with both of them receiving $50,000 each as runner-ups.
“When we launched the Circular Fashion Fund, we set out to support the businesses turning circularity from ambition into action,” said Alexis Hoopes, vice president and global head of fashion at eBay.
“Over the past three years, we’ve seen scalable solutions emerge in areas like textile recycling, resale and repair – but these businesses need capital and support to grow. With this expansion, we’re helping more founders build the infrastructure to make circular fashion an integral part of the fashion industry.”
Since its debut in 2022, the Circular Fashion Fund has supported more than 25 businesses through funding and mentoring, helping emerging firms gain access to industry partners and networks to enable them to scale. With the expansion, eBay’s total funding commitment through the Circular Fashion Fund is set to reach around US$1.9 million by the end of 2026.