Grant funding will take 20 early-stage companies to ITMA 2027's Start-Up Valley, and at the exhibition they will show their innovations alongside established technology manufacturers. The European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers (CEMATEX) has selected the recipients of the CEMATEX Start-Up Grant. They will have opportunities for direct engagement with manufacturers, brands, investors, research organisations and technology partners who can move their technologies into commercial use.
- The committee behind the grant owns ITMA and ITMA ASIA and comprises national textile machinery associations from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
- Product areas represented among the start-ups are Colourants & Chemicals; Fibres, Yarns & Fabrics; Garment Making; Recycling; Software & Automation; and Testing.
- Many of the innovations also intersect with ITMA 2027's other focus areas of Advanced Materials, Automation & Digital Future, and Human-Centric Manufacturing.
THE SELECTED 20: The 20 start-ups announced on 24 September 2026 as CEMATEX Start-Up Grant recipients are Amphico, BioFluff, Eeden, EverDye, Fibarcode, Gemell Technology, Innovo Fiber, NunoX, Re.Solution, Recyc'Elit, Refiberd, ReSpin, Revoltech, RubyLab, Sages, Silana, Solena Materials, Sparxell, SwitchDye and Tintte. CEMATEX said the grant gives promising companies at an early stage access to what it called the world's leading textile and garment technology platform.
- Christian Schindler, Director General of the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), is a member of the Start-Up Valley selection panel.
- ITMA has a 75-year history of displaying the latest technology for the complete manufacturing value chain for textiles and garments.
- ITMA Services, headquartered in Brussels with a subsidiary in Singapore, is the appointed organiser of ITMA 2027, whose website hosts company profiles for the start-ups.
- Appointed to organise future ITMA branded exhibitions as well, ITMA Services aims to maintain and expand ITMA's unique selling proposition and relevance to a global audience.
INSIDE THE INNOVATIONS: Start-up responses to persistent sustainability challenges include alternatives to substances the industry has long relied upon, work on the processing stages that consume the most water, heat and chemistry, and textile-to-textile recycling. Textile production accounts for around 20% of the world's clean water pollution, mostly from dyeing, according to the European Parliament. Much of it stems from processing chemicals a conventional dyebath depends on.
- Amphico's membrane, free of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), is designed to keep performance fabrics waterproof and breathable, while its colour platform introduces colour through weaving rather than dyeing.
- PFAS, often called 'forever chemicals', do not readily break down in the environment or body; European Union restrictions covering a widely used sub-group in clothing start in October 2026.
- SwitchDye's CO2-switchable dyes, whose properties can be switched using carbon dioxide (CO2), reduce chemical use as well as water and energy demand while working with existing dyeing equipment.
- Recyc'Elit tackles the separation of blended fabrics by turning them back into pure monomers, chemical building blocks, for new recycled polyester while recovering co-materials such as elastane and cotton.
- Refiberd combines software and hyperspectral imaging, which reads light across many wavelengths, to identify fabric composition and help recyclers determine the materials they are handling.
WHAT THEY SAID
What strikes me about this group is not simply that they are working on sustainability, but that many cannot imagine innovating any other way. That tells us where the industry is heading. Through the CEMATEX Start-Up Grant, we are giving these companies the opportunity to bring their technologies directly to the manufacturers, brands and investors …
— Alex Zucchi
President
CEMATEX
The quality of the submissions reflected both the pace and breadth of innovation emerging across the sector. We saw solutions with strong potential for industrial application, scalability and measurable impact across different parts of the textile value chain. Selecting just 20 companies from such a diverse application pool was a highly competitive process.
— Christian Schindler
Director General; Member, Start-Up Valley selection panel
International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF)
