Xefco raises $10.5m

 Manufacturing tech company, Xefco has closed $10.5 million in its latest funding round led by Australian deep tech fund Main Sequence. 

The Australian company is tackling textile emissions and looking to create a greener supply chain for the fashion industry. 

The company’s latest funding round saw new financial backers including Breakthrough Victoria and Virescent Ventures, investing on behalf of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).

Existing shareholders, Investible and Voyagers Climate-Tech Fund are now looking to build the Xefco team and commercialise production of Xefco’s patented water-free textile finishing and dyeing solution, Ausora.

The Ausora product can dye and finish textiles without water using a ‘shower plasma process’ which can apply coatings with strong covalent bonds to a wide range of textiles including both natural and synthetic materials.

The company said this process can treat materials without water and create the same look, feel and performance properties without heavy environmental impact. 

Tom Hussey, CEO and co-founder of Xefco told Digital Nation the company’s system “can replace up to 10 machines required for conventional processes”. 

“The recent funding round will allow Xefco to reach more global brands to adopt Ausora”. 

“There is already massive pull from the market as brands need to shift from conventional processes to meet sustainability targets”. 

Hussey said the dyeing and finishing process “makes up around 36 percent of the carbon footprint for the supply chain which is around 3 percent of global emissions.”

This also “consumes a huge amount of water” Hussey continued. 

“On top of scaling Ausora's manufacturing process, the latest capital injection will also see Xefco nearly double its headcount in 2024 to drive this global scaling.”

Hussey added, “The challenge in scaling any manufacturing process lies in how it can be introduced to existing manufacturing processes, negating risk and cost for manufacturers.

“Xefco has overcome this by designing their system as a standalone drop-in solution that allows manufacturers to divert productions away from conventional processes,” Hussey said.