London-based Archipelago Ventures has been awarded Impact project of the year in the pollution and waste management category, thanks to its innovative approach to textile waste.

According to Archipelago Ventures, more than 15 kilograms of textile waste is generated per person every year in Europe, around 85% of which is discarded clothes and home textiles. Less than one percent of this is fibre-to-fibre (F2F) recycled, and 10% is downcycled for other uses; the rest is either exported or incinerated.

In April 2025, Archipelago Ventures led a £1.5 million ($1.97 million) seed investment round into Matoha, a manufacturer of AI-powered material identification scanners, to further develop and extend the capability of its low-cost, AI-powered waste sorting devices. The devices are now being used in countries such as Ghana, where textile waste is often exported to, and where the abundance of textile waste has created significant environmental problems.

Over the past year, Matoha's FabriTell fabric scanning devices have identified and tracked over 8 million garments globally, equivalent to 2,040 tonnes of mixed textiles materials. 1,800 tonnes of this will go to open-loop recycling, 200 tonnes to F2F recycling, diverting 98% of this waste from incineration or landfill, saving over 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.