Ebay has named Belgian textile sorting technology company Trosort as the global winner of its 2026 Circular Fashion Fund, honoring the business for its AI-powered approach to improving secondhand clothing operations and textile recovery systems. Trosort was selected from eight international finalists across the UK, EU, US, and Australia, standing out for its potential to address one of fashion’s most pressing infrastructure challenges: scalable and efficient textile sorting. As the 2026 global winner, the company will have the opportunity to receive a US$300,000 investment from Ebay Ventures.
The startup develops semi-automated sorting systems that digitise textile processing and improve garment recirculation through reuse, repair, upcycling and recycling channels. By using artificial intelligence to assess fabric composition, quality, and condition, Trosort’s technology aims to bring greater efficiency, transparency, and speed to secondhand clothing operations, helping reduce waste and enable more circular retail models. “Textile sorting remains one of the fashion industry’s biggest infrastructure challenges, and we believe smarter, AI-powered systems can help unlock greater efficiency, transparency and garment recirculation at scale,” said Achille Mathot, co-founder and chief executive of Trosort.
Now in its fourth year, Ebay’s Circular Fashion Fund was created to support early-stage businesses developing solutions across the circular fashion ecosystem, including resale, repair, recycling technology, authentication, sourcing and textile recovery infrastructure. The program connects founders with funding, strategic mentoring, and access to Ebay’s broader circular fashion ecosystem to help scale ideas with long-term industry impact. Since launching in 2022, the initiative has supported more than 30 businesses globally, with Ebay’s total investment through the program expected to reach $1.9 million by the end of 2026.
This year’s other finalists were Circular Sourcing, Ragpiq, Silhouet, Refabric, TRUSS, eComID and It Goes Forward, each receiving a grant, mentoring, and access to Ebay’s network of circular fashion experts and investors. The winners were chosen by a judging panel of industry leaders across fashion, sustainability and circular innovation, including Alexis Hoopes, VP Fashion at Ebay; Henri Jaanimaegi, Head of Ebay Ventures; Federica Marachionni, CEO of the Global Fashion Agenda; Laird Borrelli-Persson, Senior Archive Editor at Vogue; and Joe Murphy, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
