Xefco secures A$10.5m to reduce textile emissions

Investible is proud to back Xefco via our Climate Tech Fund, following our initial investment in 2023 (Read the investment notes here). This freshly-raised investment also included Breakthrough Victoria, Virescent Ventures, investing on behalf of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and existing shareholders Voyagers Climate-Tech Fund. The capital will help grow the team, as well as commercialise production of Xefco’s patented water-free textile finishing and dyeing solution, Ausora.

The textile industry is one of the world’s biggest polluters with textile finishing and dyeing responsible for a fifth of global industrial water pollution and 3% of global carbon emissions. It’s also the second largest industrial user of water after agriculture.

“The existing wet processes used to put colour and other functional properties on fabrics have the biggest environmental footprint of the entire fashion supply chain. These outdated, resource-intensive operations have not changed in centuries. It’s destroying our waterways and our planet. We’re determined to create a greener supply chain for the fashion industry,” said Tom Hussey, CEO and Founder of Xefco.

Co-founded in 2018 by Tom Hussey and Brian Conolly, Xefco has spent the past six years advancing innovative textile solutions. Its first product XReflex, which increases the thermal efficiency of insulated clothing, is already used by some of the world’s leading apparel and fashion brands including Zara and The North Face.

With its latest innovation, Ausora, Xefco has discovered a way of dyeing and finishing textiles without water. Using its unique shower plasma process, Ausora produces the same look, feel and performance properties without the environmental footprint.

Ausora’s process can be used on any textiles including natural and synthetic materials. Xefco already has a number of pilot projects underway with some of the largest sportswear, outdoor and fashion brands using its Ausora system to colour and finish apparel.

“Our Ausora systems have been designed to plug and play into existing supply chains to help brands and manufacturers easily transition to a cleaner textile process. Dyeing and finishing drive the biggest impacts in the textile supply chain. Whereas, compared to conventional wet dyeing and finishing, our process eliminates the use of water and cuts energy, chemical consumption and cost. Our technology has the potential to stop millions of tonnes of waste entering our waterways and CO2 from entering our planet,” added Hussey.

Xefco is based out of Deakin University in Geelong. To date, it has been awarded over $6 million in grant funding through the likes of Deakin University’s Recycling and Clean Energy Commercialisation Hub (REACH), Future Fibres Hub, and Innovative Manufacturing CRC (IMCRC).

Since our initial investment, we've consistently been impressed by the exceptional team at Xefco. Under Tom's leadership, Xefco has successfully achieved their initial objectives, notably including the development and validation of their commercial-scale coating system, which has garnered recognition from some of the industry's leading textile manufacturers and brands," said Investible Investment Manager Ben Lindsay.

With its latest capital injection, Xefco plans to nearly double its headcount in 2024 and scale its manufacturing process.