Startups to watch in 2026: AI textile waste management platform SuperCircle raises $24 million

SuperCircle, the full-stack textile waste management platform for the world’s top retail brands, today announced $24M  (€23m) in Series A funding led by Foundry, with other investors including BBG Ventures, Renewal Fund and Elemental Impact. 

The platform addresses a critical pain point for both fashion and sporting goods brands: managing end-of-life products made from complex material blends. Performance apparel and athletic footwear typically contain synthetic fibers like polyester, nylon and elastane – materials notoriously difficult to recycle through conventional methods. SuperCircle’s AI sortation engine analyzes incoming products and determines the optimal pathway, whether fiber-to-fiber recycling, component-to-component recovery or material downcycling.

Stuart Ahlum and Chloe Songer, SuperCircle’s co-founders, previously launched circular sneaker brand Thousand Fell before building the infrastructure to serve the broader industry. The platform now handles clothing, footwear and accessories, processing materials that would otherwise end in landfills or incinerators.

From consumer drop-off to recycled fiber

SuperCircle operates a full-service model: brands integrate the platform into their e-commerce sites or retail locations, consumers ship or drop off worn items, and SuperCircle’s sortation facilities route products to appropriate recycling partners. The system provides real-time data and compliance reporting – increasingly critical as Extended Producer Responsibility regulations require brands to manage product end-of-life and meet recycling targets.

The platform’s AI analyzes product composition, condition and market value to optimize routing decisions. Some items qualify for resale, extending product life. Others move to fiber recycling partners capable of breaking down synthetic blends into virgin-equivalent materials. Products beyond recycling capacity become component materials or industrial feedstock.

Athletic footwear presents particular challenges. Sneakers contain multiple materials – rubber outsoles, foam midsoles, synthetic uppers, adhesives and hardware – that must be separated for effective recycling. SuperCircle’s component-to-component approach enables brands to recover materials even when full shoe recycling isn’t viable. Ahlum noted the extended lifecycle creates different dynamics: “With sneakers, there’s a lag time – you wear them for a year, they sit in your closet for another year before you think about recycling.”

Sporting goods brands adopt turnkey circularity

While major players like Nike, Adidas and Puma have developed proprietary recycling programs – Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe, Adidas’Made to Be Remade, Puma’sRE:FIBRE – smaller and mid-sized sporting goods brands increasingly turn to platforms like SuperCircle rather than building infrastructure independently.

Manduka, the American yoga equipment brand, partnered with SuperCircle to launch the industry’s first end-of-life program for yoga mats, accepting any brand and any condition. Tentree, the Canadian outdoor apparel company, powers its “Circularity by tentree” program through SuperCircle, managing collection and recycling for both its own products and any brand’s clothing. Girlfriend Collective, the American athleisure brand, runs its “ReGirlfriend” recycling program via the platform, offering customers store credit for returned athleisure.

These partnerships demonstrate the platform’s relevance beyond fashion into performance and outdoor categories where material complexity and durability create recycling challenges. SuperCircle now serves over 150 brand partners, including J. Crew, GUESS, Reformation and Parachute Home.

Regulatory pressure accelerates adoption

Extended Producer Responsibility legislation in California, Colorado, Maine and Oregon requires brands to fund and manage textile waste collection and recycling. The EU’s Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles establishes similar mandates. SuperCircle’s reporting tools help brands demonstrate compliance, tracking collection volumes, recycling rates and diversion from landfills.

The platform processed more than 1.2 million items in 2024, diverting over 500,000 pounds (227,000 kilograms) of textiles from landfills. SuperCircle projects a 300 percent growth in 2025 as EPR deadlines approach and more brands launch take-back programs.

Technology meets infrastructure gap

The textile recycling ecosystem remains fragmented. Fiber-to-fiber recycling technologies exist but lack scale. Collection infrastructure is underdeveloped. Sortation – identifying material composition and routing products efficiently – represents a bottleneck. SuperCircle’s AI addresses this middle layer, connecting brands generating waste streams with recyclers needing feedstock.

The company plans to expand its network of sortation facilities and strengthen partnerships with mechanical and chemical recycling companies capable of processing complex synthetic blends. SuperCircle also aims to increase data transparency, providing brands with detailed material flows and environmental impact metrics.

Sporting goods brands face mounting pressure from consumers, investors and regulators to demonstrate circularity beyond marketing claims. Platforms that handle reverse logistics, sortation and recycling partnerships offer a pragmatic path forward – particularly for companies lacking the scale to build proprietary systems. SuperCircle’s Series A positions the company to capture this demand as EPR regulations take effect and brands translate sustainability commitments into operational reality.