Vision
Our vision is to drive a transformative material revolution within the $3 trillion fashion industry. We are committed to catalysing positive and sustainable change by backing and supporting innovators developing next-generation materials and circular services.
Irene Maffini, Founding Partner
Irene is an investor, senior adviser and start-up operator with 14 years of experience commercialising clean technologies across various industries. She has invested in 40 climatech start-ups and mentored over 100 companies, helping them raise over £70 million in funding.
Currently, Irene focuses on operational roles in innovative companies driving sustainability in the textile industry. She serves as a Non-Executive Director at DyeRecycle and Business Development Lead at Materra. As an angel investor, Irene continues to support sustainable innovations, particularly in fashion and textiles.
Irene is an Expert for the European Commission and European Innovation Council, a Mentor for the Royal Academy of Engineering, and a Senior Associate at Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership. She is completing a PhD at UCL, researching bledend finance models for sustainable development.
Areas of work
Providing sustainable innovation advisory services to investors, brands, suppliers, startups, governments and NGOs.
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Go-to-Market Strategy Development and Implementation
Facilitating Partnerships with Brands/Suppliers (Pilots to Multi-year Agreements)
Fundraising Strategy, Documentation and Investor Connections
Team Building and Board Recruitment
Theory of change development
Advisory Board
Interim Head of Business Development role
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Sustainability Investment Thesis Development
Innovation Focus Area Prioritization for Investments/Open Innovation Programmes
Venture Scouting and Due Diligence
Building a Sustainability Portfolio
Portfolio Management and Board Participation
Open Innovation Programme/Incubator/ Accelerator Design and Operations
Connection to supply chain to produce PoC and collections
Advisory Board
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Business Case Development for Sustainable Innovation Funding Programmes
Sustainability-focussed Grant Funding and Blended Finance Programme Design and Implementation
Expert Assessment of Funding Calls
Advisory Board
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Sustainability/Innovation and Blended Finance Programme Design and Implementation
Co-authoring Thought Leadership Reports
Public Speaking Engagements
Open Innovation and Blended Finance Lectures
Advisory Board
Portfolio
NEXT-GENERATION MATERIALS
Sustainable alternatives to raw materials, their production, dyeing and finishing.
CIRCULARITY SOLUTIONS
Innovative, sustainable and circular solutions to fashion supply chain.
What Innovators say
“I can't say enough about how invaluable Irene has been to us at AMPHICO. Over the past two years, she's become much more than an investor—she's one of the best advisors we've ever had. Irene's got deep knowledge about the ever changing landscape of the fashion industry, understanding its current challenges like no other. She's incredibly well-connected in the industry, and those relationships have been a game-changer for us”.
- Jun Kamei, Founder and CEO of AMPHICO
“Irene has been an invaluable advisor in the textile and fashion industry, helping us to define the right strategies and goals with her deep expertise and commitment to sustainability. Her unique ability to blend creative vision with practical solutions has profoundly shaped our company’s direction, setting new standards for speed to market for the biomaterials space”.
- Martin Stubel, Founder and CEO of BIOFLUFF
“Irene has been working with Pact since the ideation stage of the company and is one of the earliest believers in Pact. Her expertise in sustainable fashion, connections with brands and promising start-ups are unmatched. She's incredibly attentive and hands-on, helping Pact with our business strategy. Her genuine warmth and trustworthiness is what I value the most.”
- Yudi Ding, Founder and CEO of PACT
“Since early-on in Ponda’s journey, Irene has been a steadfast advisor with deep insights into the next-gen fashion space and investment landscape. Irene is not only a pleasure to work with, but has been a critical piece in our continued journey as an early stage venture. Would highly recommend her to all startups, brands and funds looking to broaden their expertise across fashion, materials and investment verticals”.
- Julian Ellis-Brown, Founder and CEO of PONDA
“Irene is incredibly well connected in the fashion-tech sector. Her attuned understanding of industry signals and opportunities have been invaluable to our growth. Irene is also well versed in the grant landscape and has actively taken part to support the success of Petit Pli in this field”.
- Ryan Yasin, Founder and CEO of PETIT PLI
“Working with Irene provided us with a strategic edge: her deep understanding of the fashion landscape, and the people behind it, is invaluable. Irene is eager to connect us with key figures in her network, enabling faster development and broadening our opportunities in tangible ways.''
- Benjamin Drouget, Founder and CEO of SPARXELL
In the news
JOIN US
Join us to reimagine the future of our clothes and supercharge this change
Fashion Reimagined will play a key role in creating and shaping this ecosystem, backing and working with the best material and circularity solutions that will be scaled up globally.
INNOVATORS
BRANDS AND SUPPLIERS
INVESTORS
