Seattle-based startup Ravel has closed an $8.2 million seed round to take its blended-textile recycling technology from pilot plant to commercial operation. The round was led by One Small Planet, with significant participation from AP Ventures, follow-on from Overlay Capital and Lichen Ventures, and continued backing from existing investors At One Ventures, Collateral Good and Betterway Ventures.

Ravel's approach is what it calls "Purification Recycling." Rather than mechanically shredding old textiles into downcycled fiber or depolymerizing polyester back into chemical monomers, it uses a washing-based mechanism to remove elastane, dyes and other contaminants while keeping the underlying PET (polyethylene terephthalate) polymer as intact as possible. According to the company, preserving the polyester polymer costs less than taking it apart and rebuilding it. This route differs from both mechanical and chemical recycling, and yields recycled polyester feedstock usable by existing fiber and yarn supply chains.

The entry point the company chose is fashion's long-stubborn elastane blend problem. Elastane gives activewear its stretch, but it interferes with melt processing and contaminates the monomers recovered by some chemical recycling methods. Ravel's filed U.S. patent applications show that its purification process can remove elastane and other minor non-target polymers while leaving the target polyester largely intact; the filings also cover treatment options for blends such as polyester-cotton, cotton-elastane and nylon-elastane. The company's current product is textile-derived recycled PET. Co-founder and CEO Zahlen Titcomb says blends make garments more durable, more functional and more affordable, but existing infrastructure cannot recycle them — which is precisely Ravel's opportunity.

On capacity, Titcomb says the Seattle pilot plant is designed for 20 to 24 metric tons per year, mainly for making samples and reducing technical risk, and does not run continuously. The company has already begun running its process through higher-capacity contract manufacturers, and expects its first commercial unit to handle roughly 10,000 tons per year. He stresses that preliminary engineering estimates show a 10,000-ton facility is economically viable and financeable.

The technology's flexibility could also change how factories manage waste: apparel makers would not need to sort each component separately when switching production lines, and polyester-elastane cut pieces could be sent out together. Ravel expects first-phase commercial growth to be fed by post-industrial waste, because it sits closer to apparel production clusters and is more consistent in composition than discarded clothing. Sorting does not disappear, though — the patent filings still describe washing, shredding, removing metal and other non-textile parts, and grouping waste into broad material categories before purification.

Feedstock has long been the stumbling block for textile recyclers. Helen Lin, a partner at At One Ventures, points out that the biggest factor determining the success of any recycling business is feedstock — how much of the waste stream is actually usable, how pure it needs to be for processing to be viable, and how far it has to travel.

Preliminary third-party life cycle assessments cited by Ravel show its process can use up to 86% less fossil fuel and 98% less water than conventional PET production. But these figures are modeled results, not operating data from a commercial plant — and the same goes for its price targets. The company says it aims to match conventional textile material prices, while Jack Wielebinski of investor One Small Planet describes a production path where recycled material is cheaper than virgin. Titcomb admits the pilot plant is not about making money, but about improving the product and scaling the business and the technology.

Looking ahead, extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation could increase both the supply of recyclable textiles and brands' demand for recycling capacity, but it cannot on its own guarantee that collected garments arrive in usable condition, nor that recycled output can compete with virgin polyester. The lesson for the industry may lie here: companies are quick to buy into pilot-scale stories, but the real proof point is a plant run that can handle inconsistent feedstock, sell its output without a green premium, and account for everything the process removes.

Source: Ravel Raises $8.2M to Tackle Fashion’s Elastane Problem · Originally published 2026-09-17