Dayton, OH-based textile recycling startup Hybridworks reports it has attracted a $3.2-million seed-series equity investment from a private Midwest-based investor. The company views this as a significant milestone in its effort to deliver the most scalable and energy-efficient technology available to the industry.

“This investment validates the breakthrough status of our technology and strengthens our resolve to drive positive change in the textile industry,” said CEO Bob Fesmire Sr., the Ellis Corp. chairman and co-founder of Hybridworks.

On the heels of $300,000 in pre-seed angel and founder team funding raised last year, the investment empowers Hybridworks to expand research and development and production infrastructure. A pilot plant is under development and partnerships are being negotiated with fiber companies, fabric manufacturers, waste-management companies, industrial laundries and fashion houses. Such partnerships also are sought with entities in textile and uniform manufacturing, plastics, waste management and recycling.

Hybridworks systems separate cotton, as a fiber, from polyester, with the resulting cotton, described as high-quality, high-integrity, suitable for re-spinning into new fiber. (Historically cotton is destroyed or turned into cellulose.) The recovered polyester is separated into terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol, two primary chemicals needed to make polyester and most other plastics. These two recovered products can be spun into new fiber or mixed with virgin fiber to produce fiber with recycled content.

Bud Honshell, Hybridworks co-founder and COO, explained, “Textile recycling solutions have never been more in-demand than at this very moment. Hybridworks is well-positioned to establish our next-level technologies as a cornerstone of textile sustainability efforts worldwide.”

Honshell’s 50-year career in uniform service has included marketing and business development at VanDyne Crotty Inc. and Mechanics Laundry (now part of Cintas Corp.), Signet Expressions/Wildman Business group, VF Imagewear (now Workwear Outfitters) and Miller’s Textile Services. Most recently, he served as a consultant to the industrial laundry industry.

Fesmire Sr. also is chairman of Ludell Water Systems. Ellis is now operating under fourth-generation leadership with Bob Fesmire Jr. at the helm of both companies. Fesmire Sr. took over Ellis in 1970. Under his leadership, the company ventured into wastewater management systems and services (first industrial laundry machinery manufacturer to do so) and acquired Ludell. This year, the Fesmire family is celebrating 125 years in business.

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