[Edaily Marketin YunJi Kim Reporter] In the European fashion-tech market, global investors’ interest is expanding beyond eco-friendly materials to include innovations in production processes. With the emergence of technologies that can reduce production time and labor costs while also lowering inventory burdens, the ability to pursue both environmental sustainability and cost savings is emerging as a key investment focus.

According to industry sources on the 8th, the Danish fashion-tech startup “Rodinia Generation” recently secured 4 million euros (approximately 6 billion won) in funding from several global venture capital (VC) firms.

Based in Denmark, Rodinia Generation is developing technology that automates the apparel production process, significantly reducing the time from order placement to finished product. At the heart of this is its proprietary compact production facility, the “O-Factory,” which combines fabric printing, heat treatment, and cutting into a single process to quickly produce only the required quantities. The system effectively reduces the typical garment production time—which usually takes several months—to just a few days, enabling production within 48 hours of an order being placed.

Reduced environmental impact is another major feature. While traditional garment dyeing and finishing processes use large amounts of water and chemicals, Rodinia utilizes digital printing and heat treatment, eliminating the need for water in these stages. According to the company, a single O-Factory facility—even at a size of approximately 200 square meters—can produce up to 700,000 garments annually while reducing carbon emissions per product by an average of 40% compared to conventional methods.

Venture capitalists made this investment because they recognized that Rodinia can not only enhance environmental sustainability but also reduce the cost structure and inventory burden of apparel production. They explained that since fashion companies can adjust production volumes to match actual demand, they can reduce the need for inventory markdowns and waste disposal while simultaneously ramping up production of popular items quickly. Furthermore, if automation is used to lower labor costs, production within Europe—close to consumer markets—becomes feasible.

This investment by VCs comes amid a broadening scope of investment in the European fashion-tech market, which has moved beyond the development of eco-friendly materials to include technologies that enhance efficiency across the entire manufacturing process, including production and recycling. In particular, funding is flowing into technologies that can reduce both the environmental impact of the traditional fashion industry and production and disposal costs.

This year alone, Copenhagen-based Octaline Bio raised 5 million euros to expand its production of eco-friendly dyes, while the UK’s Spaxel secured 4.2 million euros for its plant-based dye technology. France’s Syntetica also received a $30 million Series A investment to scale up its technology for converting waste nylon back into raw materials to commercial levels.

Tighter regulations from the European Union (EU) are also driving demand for investment in related technologies. In Europe, the circular economy remains in its early stages, with the recycling rate for waste textiles falling short of even 1 percent. In response, the EU is expanding the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system—which requires textile product manufacturers to cover waste disposal costs—and is successively tightening related regulations, such as restrictions on the disposal of unsold clothing.

Since expanding recycling facilities and improving production processes are essential to comply with these regulations, demand for related investments is naturally on the rise. According to the Boston Consulting Group, an additional 8 to 11 billion euros in capital investment will be required to expand the scale of textile-to-textile (T2T) recycling in Europe to 2.7 million metric tons annually by 2035. The industry anticipates that funding will increasingly flow toward technologies capable of reducing costs across the entire supply chain—from production and inventory management to disposal—in addition to future material development.