- UK startup Matoha raises £1.5M to scale AI-powered textile scanners.
- Scanners identify fabric composition in under one second.
- Aims to revolutionize textile recycling and boost circular fashion.
Matoha, a London-based startup, is tackling one of fashion’s biggest environmental challenges: textile waste. With its AI-powered scanners that can determine fabric composition in less than a second, Matoha aims to eliminate the bottleneck in fibre sorting — a key hurdle in recycling.
Today, each person in Europe generates about 15 kilograms of textile waste annually, yet under 1% is recycled fibre-to-fibre. The challenge lies in identifying complex fabric blends, which slows down sorting processes and makes large-scale recycling inefficient.
Smart Sorting: The AI Revolution Behind Fashion’s Waste Crisis
Fashion waste is a growing global concern, with billions of garments ending up in landfills every year. One of the biggest roadblocks to recycling these garments is the complexity of sorting them by fibre type. Matoha’s solution addresses this by using AI and spectroscopy to scan textiles and instantly recognize their composition.
This innovation can help recyclers separate polyester from cotton, wool from acrylic, and blends from pure fibres — all without manual handling. The speed and accuracy of Matoha’s scanners make them ideal for high-volume recycling centers and sorting facilities.
Beyond recycling, this technology also opens up opportunities for brands to better manage post-consumer waste. With accurate data on materials, companies can improve traceability and take responsibility for what happens to garments after sale, supporting circular fashion efforts.
With its recent funding, Matoha plans to scale production, improve scanner capabilities, and expand into global markets. As sustainability becomes a priority across industries, tools like this may soon become standard in waste management systems.
By fusing AI with material science, Matoha isn’t just improving fabric sorting — it’s laying the groundwork for a more circular, responsible fashion industry.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein
