Syntetica, a French startup developing a proprietary process to chemically recycle nylon from mixed-textile waste, has closed a $30 million Series A round with backing from Lululemon and MAS Holdings, the Sri Lankan apparel manufacturing giant. The investment will fund the company’s first commercial demonstration facility, marking a step toward closing the loop on one of fashion’s most stubborn material streams.
Syntetica’s approach targets mixed-textile waste streams, where nylon is blended with elastane, cotton, or other fibres — the very composition that makes conventional mechanical recycling ineffective. The startup’s proprietary depolymerisation technology isolates the nylon monomers so they can be rebuilt into virgin-quality fibre, a process that, if scaled, could dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of nylon garment production.
Lululemon’s involvement is strategic. The Canadian athleticwear brand has set ambitious circular-economy targets under its Impact Agenda, including a goal that 100 percent of its products incorporate preferred materials and circular solutions by 2030. Nylon accounts for a meaningful share of Lululemon’s fabric mix across its leggings, bras, and outerwear categories, and securing a recycling pathway for that material is essential to hitting those commitments.
MAS Holdings, which manufactures for Nike, Lululemon, Victoria’s Secret, and other global brands, brings manufacturing scale and supply-chain integration. Its participation signals that the technology has passed the lab-to-factory threshold and is being taken seriously by the industry’s production backbone. The demonstration facility will serve as the proof point: if Syntetica can show commercial viability at that scale, the path to broader licensing and infrastructure investment opens rapidly.
