Startups Will Save Us: a leg up for the planet 🌎

Meet Raaise and other awesome climate startups in London on 8th March

February 18, 2022

G’day from a buzzing Raaise HQ

We’re just a few weeks away from launching our shiny new platform 🤩— where sexy (and not so sexy) climate startups can go to raise capital using automated workflows and smart templates to make capital raising quicker and easier— it’s the result of everything we learned from speaking with hundreds of climate founders about their capital raising needs. We can't wait to share it with the world.

In the meantime, we’re super excited to introduce a phenomenal climate startup tackling fast-fashion: Billi-London.

Question: What do you do with a laddered pair of tights?

Answer: You throw them in the bin, of course! 😬

Yikes. Yes, we’ve done this many times (we’re not proud of it).

And, we’re not alone. Over 100 million tights are tossed each year in the UK alone, that’s 7,000+ tonnes of waste, taking 40-100 years to decompose in landfill (while leaching chemicals).

“We’re doing this robotically, without even thinking about the environmental impact. We’ve accepted that tights rip and there’s nothing we can do about it. But we can do so much better!”

- Sophie, co-founder of Billi-London

This is one of those hidden truths that the fashion industry is finally starting to reckon with. Yes, tackling climate change will require large-scale system-change, but every single one of us need to make changes on an individual level, starting with our tights.

Enter Billi-London.

The brainchild of Sophie Billi-Hardwick and Marie Bouhier — the French-born, London-based co-founders — Billi-London manufactures stunning, durable legwear in Italy from a special type of nylon/elastane yarn that biodegrades in less than 5 years. Plus, they’ve got that va va voom!

London IRL 🥂: Meet the founders fixing climateOn the 8th March, we’re hosting a kick-off event at the x+why co-working space in London with some inspiring climate startup founders, impact investors, B-Corps and more. Join us. Tickets strictly limited - grab one while you can!

Startups Will Save Us 🎤 Podcast coming soon Soon, we’ll be releasing the first of our convos with amazing climate founders as part of our new podcast series, ‘Startups Will Save Us’, including a chat with the co-founder of Billi-London about how she came to make the world’s first biodegradable tights. Stay tuned. Get first eyes 👀 on more sexy startupsOver the coming weeks, we’ll introduce you to more incredible founders building climate startups. They already have the traction, team and ambition to make it; what they need now is access to capital from value-aligned investors to supercharge their growth. Could that be you? If you’re an eligible investor (sophisticated or wholesale), book a chat with Amy C-J, our Chief Raaiser, to learn more.