H&M Foundation doubles GCA grant and winners to speed up textile industry transformation

Recyclable and biodegradable polyurethane, food waste polyester, circular dyeing, natural bio-colours, ultra high-performing textiles, seaweed material, AI textile sorting, corn husk and sugarcane fabric, zero waste pattern system, textile-to-textile recycling for polyesters – these are the ten Global Change Award winners 2023, sharing a €2 million grant from the non-profit H&M Foundation.

STOCKHOLM, June 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Change Award is an early-stage innovation challenge seeking bright minds that can transform fashion. Every year, H&M Foundation selects and supports the five most impactful innovations with the ultimate aspiration of a planet positive fashion future. This year, H&M Foundation doubles both grant and winners to speed up the transformation.

"We have an urgent opportunity to support innovations that could transform the entire fashion industry – that's why we're doubling the grant and the number of winners. We're giving these innovators a total of 2 million euros and access to our accelerator program – but we're also giving the industry an opportunity to connect with these brilliant innovators. I'm excited to see the impact these innovators will make on the industry." – Karl-Johan Persson, H&M Foundation board member and chairman of H&M Group.

The Global Change Award 2023 winners are:

Material

• Algreen (UK)
• ALT TEX (Canada)
• KBCols Sciences (India)
• Nanoloom (UK)
• PhycoLabs (Brazil)
• Rethread Africa (Kenya)

Recycling

• DyeRecycle (UK)
• Refiberd (US)
• Tereform (US)

Design

• SXD (US)

H&M Foundation launched the GCA to provide the tools, connections, and resources necessary for early-stage innovations to move from idea to scale as quickly as possible. The winners receive €200,000 each and embark on the yearlong GCA Impact Accelerator. H&M Foundation together with GCA's core partners Accenture, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and The Mills Fabrica offer tailored coaching and support to accelerate their journey from idea to scale.

"There's a wide range of solutions among this year's winners. If scaled, I believe they could have a real impact on the industry – which needs a holistic transformation if we are to reach a planet positive fashion future. We look forward to working with the winners during the accelerator and help enable their innovations to accelerate and scale." – Christiane Dolva, Strategy Lead H&M Foundation.

Neither the H&M Foundation nor the H&M Group take any shareholder equity or intellectual property rights in the innovations and the winners can collaborate with whomever they want.

More information and visuals, free to use, here: https://hmfoundation.bynder.com/web/4e77ef953cd5943d/gca-2023---press-collection/ 

CONTACT: Jasmina Sofić, Media Relations Responsible, +46 73 465 59 59 

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