Swedish textile startup Syre AB plans to raise up to USD 700 million to build a new factory in Vietnam, following a multi-year supply deal with Nike Inc.
The company’s CEO Dennis Nobelius said the agreement with the world’s largest sportswear brand will secure demand for Syre’s recycled polyester and help unlock new financing. The Nike contract is “a bankable offtake agreement meaning we can use it for project financing, for example, for the Vietnam factory,” Nobelius said in an interview.
Founded in 2023 by Hennes & Mauritz AB and Vargas Holding AB, Syre raised USD 100 million last year to fund its first production facility in North Carolina, United States. The company now plans to take what Nobelius calls a more “sequential” approach to fundraising, focusing on one project at a time.
Syre expects to approach lenders and investors within six months and aims to finalise the capital raise — between USD 500 million and USD 700 million — within about a year. The funds will be used to construct the Vietnamese plant in 2027, with production expected to begin in late 2029.
Progress will, however, depend on the Vietnamese government’s approval of import licenses for textile waste, which is essential for large-scale circular production, Nobelius noted.
Syre’s current customers include H&M Group, Gap Inc., Target Corp., and Houdini Sportswear AB. The company aims to operate about a dozen factories globally within the next decade, producing around three million tons of circular polyester annually.
Syre is backed by investors including TPG Rise Climate, Volvo Car AB, IMAS Foundation, Giant Ventures, and Norrsken VC.
Source: Fashion Network
