"Tights are the plastic water bottle of the clothing industry, they have the shortest lifespan of any clothing product." This was the promise on which Canadian company , or Srtl, raised $33,000 and then $130,000 on crowdfunding sites three years ago. After raising $44 million in 2020, in the midst of lockdown, the Toronto-based start-up has raised $101 million in a new round of funding led by H&M.
After tights, Srtl wants to use its indestructible polymer for masks, socks, shorts, leggings and shoes. Wherever it can prevent accelerated wear and tear of clothing, the Canadian start-up will try to provide a solution from its 11,000 m2 factory.
It was the Canadian brand that won the biggest start-up competition in the world, the Startup World Cup organised by Pegasus Ventures, in San Francisco on Friday night. The win surprised some observers, since it had already raised nearly $150 million for its development.
"It's a great project," commented a dignified ANote Music CEO Marzio Schena. "Among the criteria that the jury had to respect was the viability of the project for the next three to five years. It's certain that Srtl, which is already funded and has revenues in the tens of millions of dollars, has a future!"
On Wednesday, the Luxembourg start-up ANote Music had managed to make it into the ten finalists, out of 10,000 start-ups that entered the global competition.
, the CEO of ANote Music had chosen to isolate himself for two hours, at sunrise, to prepare. He was the last of the ten finalists in the competition to present to the jury. "I think the pitch went well," he explained after a very long day. "I've had to pitch the project about 500 times before, but every time it's different. It starts with your family, then your friends, then different places. In San Francisco, I think it was the largest audience I've ever had, with over 1,000 people."
After the pitch, the connections, with students, entrepreneurs but also investors "from all over the world, Europeans as well as Asians, South or North Americans".
I saw all the support, all the desire that Luxembourg had for us to succeed.
With chief technology officer Grégoire Mathonet, ANote Music’s focus is now on the negotiations for the €5 million Series A with a top global player and other more discreet investors. "The US has more open VCs with a higher risk appetite than Europe. I hope to be able to finalise the Series A discussions before the end of the year and have an experienced VC on board in terms of development and management."
Before finally going to get some rest, the Luxembourg-Italian CEO also underlined the incredible support he received from the grand duchy for this competition. "On Friday morning, I got up around 5.30am to start preparing my pitch and I opened Linkedin. I saw all the support, all the desire that Luxembourg had for us to succeed. The Consul General of Luxembourg, Daniel Da Cruz, came to the ceremony. It was really great,” said Schena.
“When I pitched, during the question and answer session, I had to name some of the countries from which our customers on ANote Music came. I named a few, just like that, without thinking of the order, ending with France. And after the ceremony, some French people living in the United States came to see me, they didn't have a start-up in the final, to ask me why I had named France last. You can also see the national interest in this kind of visibility!”
Also on the podium were Israeli start-up Matricelf, a biotech specialising in cells that made a name for itself by creating the first 3D printed human heart, and , a smart city start-up with its parking space management platform.
This article was first . It has been translated and edited by Delano