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.

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.

The Global Change Award 2023 winners are:

Material

Recycling

Design

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.

Article.