eBay is expanding its Circular Fashion Fund in 2026, opening applications to businesses and startups across the EU, Switzerland, and Canada for the first time. Eight selected businesses will each receive $50,000 in funding, alongside mentoring to develop innovative solutions that extend the life of clothing and reduce textile waste.
The annual program, first launched in 2022, supports entrepreneurs tackling the fashion and textile industry’s environmental footprint, from production to end-of-life. One standout business will also be named the Global Winner of the Circular Fashion Fund and will have the opportunity to receive an additional $300,000 investment from eBay Ventures.
With this expansion, eBay’s total global funding through the program is set to reach $1.9 million by the end of 2026. Alongside expanding into new markets for this year, the Circular Fashion Fund builds on its established presence in the UK, Germany, Australia, and the U.S. Applications for 2026 are now open for all markets until March 8, 2026.
Alexis Hoopes, vice president and global head of fashion at eBay, said: “When we launched the Circular Fashion Fund, we set out to support the businesses turning circularity from ambition into action. Over the past three years, we’ve seen scalable solutions emerge in areas like textile recycling, resale and repair — but these businesses need capital and support to grow. With this expansion, we’re helping more founders build the infrastructure to make circular fashion an integral part of the fashion industry.”
Since 2022, eBay’s Circular Fashion Fund has supported over 25 businesses with funding and mentoring, helping to unlock one of the biggest challenges facing fashion startups today: access to the right partners, introductions, and industry networks needed to scale.
Among them: Refiberd, a California-based company using AI to identify fiber composition in garments, enabling high-precision sorting for textile recycling. In 2025, Refiberd was named the Global Winner of the Circular Fashion Fund receiving an additional $300,000 investment from eBay Ventures to accelerate commercial scaling. This year’s cohort will benefit from the insight of industry leaders including Australian Fashion Council Chair Marianne Perkovic, CFDA CEO Steven Kolb, Fashion Council Germany CEO Scott Lipinski, alongside Circular Fashion Fund alumni Josephine Philips, founder & CEO at SOJO, and Co-Founder of Refiberd Sarika Bajaj, who join the program as judges.
“eBay’s support has been truly transformative for our business,” says Sarika Bajaj, co-founder of Refiberd. “With both funding and mentorship, we’ve been able to scale our technology faster and expand our reach across the circular fashion ecosystem. The programme has also given us access to eBay’s expertise as a long-term player in the industry, opening up new opportunities for collaboration and partnership. Together, this allows us to deliver our solution to a broader network of brands, recyclers, and ultimately consumers who are committed to building a more sustainable future for fashion.”
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