Three years after a €5 million funding round with ETF Partners and the Frenchfounders investor network, French company Fairly Made, which has developed a solution for measuring the environmental impact of products, has completed a new funding round.
Camille Le Gal and Laure Betsch, founders of Fairly Made – Fairly Made
This time, Fairly Made has raised €15 million, with BNP Paribas Solar Impulse Venture Fund, GET Fund, ETF Partners and Frenchfounders. Fairly Made was founded in 2018 by Camille Le Gal and Laure Betsch. It now has 80 employees and says it is working with about 100 consumer brands. The funding round was designed to accelerate Fairly Made’s international expansion, following the opening of an office in Milan in 2024.
“After six years of constant growth, our international expansion plan reflects our goal of becoming a world leader in sustainable fashion,” said Le Gal. “We are proud of supporting brands from all over the world in their transition to greater transparency and accountability,” she added. Investor interest is linked to changing regulation with regards to the composition of textile products. New methodologies are emerging in France and the rest of Europe, and service providers working alongside brands on these issues are directly involved. Fairly Made has developed supply chain analysis solutions enabling its clients to collect information from their suppliers at various levels, and is also keen to focus on eco-design.
“What used to be a simple [competitive] advantage is now a necessity: ensuring supply chain visibility is a crucial first step in adopting sustainable practices,” said Laura Wirsztel, partner at the BNP Paribas Solar Impulse Venture Fund, which invests in companies based in Europe and the US that specialise in energy transition, mobility, biodiversity, sustainable agriculture and food, and the circular economy. Fairly Made is already a key player in the industry, relying on its innovative SaaS platform to deliver transparency and traceability at scale, while its new eco-design module responds to the growing demand for concrete change in the sector. Led by a visionary team, Fairly Made has earned the trust of many prestigious clients. “Thanks to this funding round, we are excited to be supporting [Fairly Made’s] global expansion and continued impact in creating a more sustainable future,” said Wirsztel.
Fairly Made is based in Paris and its clients include luxury houses, premium brands and fashion retail players. Last year, it reported a revenue of over €15 million.
Swedish fintech Klarna has paused its plans for a U.S. initial public offering as President Donald Trump‘s sweeping tariffs rattle global markets, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Reuters
The decision would complicate an uneven recovery for the U.S. IPO market, as the company’s listing was seen as a potential catalyst for encouraging others to follow.
Klarna could reassess its plans if market conditions stabilize, the people said.
While hopes of a recovery were high in 2025, some of the new entrants to the IPO market have seen muted receptions.
LNG exporter Venture Global’s shares have dropped since its January debut. AI infrastructure firm CoreWeave’s shares dipped on their first day of trading, but have climbed since then.
Fears of a trade war have crushed stocks after Trump unveiled the sweeping tariffs plan this week that could weigh on the global economy.
“This kind of market instability naturally makes any company, regardless of sector, hit the brakes on near-term IPO plans,” said Lukas Muehlbauer, research analyst at IPOX.
Klarna was aiming to raise more than $1 billion at a valuation exceeding $15 billion, according to media reports.
It had 93 million active customers on its platform and operations in 26 countries as of 2024 end, according to its IPO filing.
The company had soared to a valuation of $45.6 billion in 2021, but that has tempered since as the pandemic-driven surge in online spending moderated.
Klarna did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the plans, said the company had decided to postpone marketing its shares, originally scheduled for this week.
Meanwhile, U.S. stocks fell sharply for a second straight session on Friday, pushing the Nasdaq toward a bear market.
Shares in companies that have large manufacturing operations in Vietnam, including Nike Inc. and Lululemon Athletica Inc., soared Friday
Nike
Nike shares erased an earlier loss to gain as much as 5.9%, while On Holding AG and Skechers USA Inc. also rose more than 6% each. Lululemon Athletica shares meanwhile jumped 3.9%. Wayfair Inc. was briefly halted for volatility after erasing a 19% decline to jump as much as 6.4%.
Trump said on social media that he spoke to To Lam and Vietnam wants to “cut their tariffs down to zero.” The president unveiled a levy of 46% on goods imported from Vietnam, effective April 9. Apparel and shoemakers had shifted manufacturing to the southeast Asia country in recent years after Trump hit China will levies during his first term.
About half of all Nike brand shoes and 39% of Adidas shoes are made in Vietnam, according to regulatory filings, with the country being the largest supplier of footwear for both companies. Nike has already said it expects its gross margin to decline sharply this quarter, in part due to US tariffs on products from China and Mexico.
Nike shares are still down more than 20% on the year, while Lululemon is off more than 30%.
Zara owner Inditex believes it will have opportunities to grow in the United States where it plans to open more stores, despite trade tariffs announced by President Donald Trump, Chief Executive Officer Oscar Garcia Maceiras said on Friday.
Zara
Garcia Maceiras said the company has not seen any drastic consumption changes in any of its key markets lately.
The United States is Inditex’s second-biggest market.