Cotton agriculture technology company, Materra, has raised US$4.5 million in seed capital lead by H&M Group and Bestseller's Invest Fwd in order to revolutionize the cotton business.

Cotton technology business Materra intends to leverage funds from garment labels H&M Group and Bestseller, as well as venture investment trust Perivoli Innovations and worldwide environmental project Fashion For Good, to launch large-scale climate-resilient and egalitarian cotton production.

According to Materra, the funds will be used to expand its team and form new collaborations, allowing it to speed up cotton product development and begin serving rising demand over the next two years.

Edward Brial, Materra’s CEO and co-founder, said that it's been a hectic but rewarding start to the season, between wrapping up a year of in-field trials, launching new collaborations, and completing this round. They’re honored to have the backing of investors of this caliber. This exciting milestone signifies a shift in gear as they seek to considerably increase their operations in India, continue R&D activities, and speed the creation of increasingly scalable products.

Erik Karlsson, investment manager at H&M Group's H&M CO:LAB, said that Materra is revolutionising the way cotton is cultivated by combining both efficient and regenerative farming technologies that significantly increase the sustainability performance of the fiber.

Jeppe Bredahl, investment manager at Bestseller's Invest FWD, agrees and points out that the firm has a clear objective of influencing change in the fashion sector through climate-resilient cotton manufacturing.

Materra is a London and Ahmedabad-based firm that will collaborate with garment giants Kering, PVH, Arvind, and FFG in 2021 to make the cotton sector more sustainable, transparent, and resilient.

More collaborations are planned for this year, including a new pilot farm in India with the H&M Group.