eBay has opened applications for the 2026 Circular Fashion Fund, marking its fourth year and a significant geographic expansion. For the first time, businesses and start-ups in the EU, Switzerland, and Canada are eligible to apply, alongside existing markets including the UK, Germany, Australia, and the US.
Key Highlights
- Eight businesses will each receive $50,000 in funding, plus structured mentoring focused on scaling circular fashion solutions.
- One Global Winner will be selected, with the opportunity to receive an additional $300,000 investment from eBay Ventures.
- With the 2026 cohort, total programme funding will reach $1.9 million globally.
- Applications are open until 8 March 2026 across all eligible markets.
Strategic Focus
The fund targets scalable, commercially viable solutions that:
- Extend garment life
- Reduce textile waste
- Enable circular business models such as resale, repair, reuse, and recycling
According to eBay, the emphasis is no longer on pilot concepts, but on infrastructure-building ventures capable of integrating circularity into the mainstream fashion system.
Track Record and Proof of Impact
From 2022, the Circular Fashion Fund has:
- Supported 25+ businesses with capital and mentoring
- Helped founders overcome common scale-up barriers such as access to partners, networks, and industry credibility.
The 2025 Global Winner, Refiberd, uses AI to identify fibre composition in garments, enabling high-precision sorting for textile recycling—a critical bottleneck in circular textiles. The additional $300,000 investment accelerated its commercial deployment across brands and recyclers.
Industry-Led Evaluation
The 2026 cohort will be judged by a panel of global industry leaders, including:
- Fashion council executives
- Circular economy entrepreneurs
- Past fund recipients with real-world scaling experience
This reinforces the programme’s positioning as capital plus capability, rather than grant funding alone.
Why This Matters
As regulatory pressure, ESG expectations, and material scarcity intensify, circular fashion is shifting from narrative to necessity. eBay’s expanded fund signals:
- Growing confidence in circular business models
- Recognition that capital, mentorship, and market access must move together
- A push to industrialise circularity, not just celebrate it
For founders working at the intersection of technology, textiles, and sustainability, the 2026 Circular Fashion Fund represents one of the most credible scale-up platforms currently available in global fashion.
