Unspun raised $32 million in an oversubscribed Series B round in July 2024, led by DCVC (Data Collective) with participation from Lowercarbon Capital.

The company has raised approximately $50 million in total funding to date, including a $14 million Series A in 2023. Notable investors include climate-tech focused funds (Lowercarbon Capital, Climate Capital), hardware investors (DCVC), strategic partners (Decathlon Pulse), and early-stage VCs (SOSV, Signia, MVP Ventures, Fifty Years).

Unspun's product offering has two core components: custom-fit clothing and the technology that makes it possible. For consumers who purchase directly from Unspun, the experience starts with a 3D body scan using their smartphone's camera or answering detailed fit questions. This data feeds into Unspun's proprietary "FitOS" software, which generates an individualized digital pattern optimized for that specific body.

Initially, Unspun would cut and sew each pair of jeans to order based on these measurements, eliminating standard sizes entirely. This approach solves a massive problem in apparel: poor fit leading to returns (a major source of waste) and customer dissatisfaction.

What truly differentiates Unspun, however, is its "Vega" manufacturing technology. Vega is a robotic 3D weaving system that starts with raw yarn and weaves a seamless tube of fabric shaped like the final garment – think of a machine that weaves a pant leg directly rather than weaving flat fabric that then needs cutting and sewing. The co-founders describe it as "like a basket-making machine but for clothes."

The current production time on Vega is about 10-20 minutes per garment. While the machine produces a tube that still requires some assembly (attaching waistbands or pockets), it eliminates fabric cutting waste and dramatically reduces manufacturing steps. This produces pants with approximately 3% material waste versus 14% in traditional manufacturing.

For brands and retailers, Unspun offers both its FitOS software (which can be integrated into e-commerce to help customers find their perfect size or create custom-fit orders) and manufacturing capabilities through its Vega machines. Walmart, for example, is piloting Unspun's technology to produce work pants in the U.S., potentially deploying hundreds of Vega machines if successful.

Unspun's ultimate vision is to create small, local micro-factories equipped with Vega machines near major cities worldwide, so clothes can be made close to consumers within days, cutting both lead times and transport emissions.

Unspun has evolved from a direct-to-consumer brand into a B2B2C technology and manufacturing platform company. They create value by eliminating the need for inventory in multiple sizes, reducing returns due to poor fit, and cutting fabric waste through their 3D weaving technology.

The business model now has three main components. The first is hardware sales/leasing, where Unspun provides Vega 3D weaving machines to manufacturers or brands. This represents a capital-intensive component with hardware-level margins (potentially 30-50% gross margin), but creates a foundation for ongoing revenue streams. The agreement to build 350 Vega machines for Walmart suggests this will be a significant revenue driver.

The second component is recurring software and services, including licensing FitOS to brands for customer size recommendations and body scanning. This SaaS offering creates high-margin recurring revenue with relatively low marginal costs to serve additional customers, making it an attractive complement to the hardware business.

The third is manufacturing services, where Unspun operates its own microfactory in Oakland/Emeryville to produce custom garments for brands. This gives Unspun full control over production quality while serving as a showcase for their technology.

Unspun's go-to-market strategy leverages partnerships and pilot programs with influential brands. Their early work with fashion labels like Pangaia and H&M's Weekday created proof points, while the Walmart partnership represents a major validation and path to scale. For the FitOS software component, they take a traditional SaaS approach, highlighting ROI through reduced returns and improved customer satisfaction.

The cost structure includes substantial R&D for engineering the Vega machines, building prototypes, and securing patents. Manufacturing hardware means costs for components, assembly, and potentially setting up production lines for the machines themselves. A key operational differentiator is Unspun's claim of efficiency through 3D weaving, which reduces material costs compared to traditional methods.

The self-reinforcing dynamic in Unspun's model is compelling: as more users get body scans, their algorithms improve, enhancing fit predictions and pattern generation. Meanwhile, as more machines are deployed, production costs should decrease, making the technology more accessible to additional brands and potentially creating a network effect around localized, on-demand production.

Unspun competes with other startups aiming to transform traditional apparel production into more flexible, on-demand models. Unmade, a UK-based company recently acquired by Hi-Tech Apparel, offers a software platform that connects brands' e-commerce interfaces to factory machinery for on-demand production, focusing primarily on knitwear and customization. While Unmade takes a software-first approach without owning factories, Unspun differentiates through its proprietary 3D weaving hardware and deeper vertical integration.

Resonance takes yet another approach as a vertically integrated on-demand production company. They operate their own factory in the Dominican Republic and provide brands with an end-to-end software platform (CreateOne) that allows designers to digitally create garments, sell them online, and have them made only after they're ordered. Unlike Unspun's focus on 3D weaving technology and fit, Resonance emphasizes digital printing and dyeing of pre-selected fabric types.

PlatformE, backed by luxury retail veterans and working with brands under LVMH and Kering, focuses on high-end 3D visualization and mass customization rather than manufacturing innovation. Their platform creates photorealistic 3D models for online customization but lacks the hardware innovation that defines Unspun's approach.

In the fit solution space, Unspun faces competition from companies focused specifically on solving the sizing problem. MTailor uses smartphone scanning to generate custom measurements for shirts and suits but relies on traditional manufacturing rather than developing new production technology. 3DLook provides body scanning technology to brands to help customers find their correct size in existing products but doesn't address the manufacturing process.

Other body scanning technologies like SizeStream, Styku, and Virtusize help brands recommend the right size to customers but lack the end-to-end solution of linking those measurements directly to production. What differentiates Unspun is its integration of the customer measurement process with the actual production process in one company, creating a closed loop from consumer to finished product.

On the manufacturing technology side, established players like Shima Seiki pose indirect competition. This Japanese knitting machine company produces 3D knitting equipment capable of making whole seamless garments (called "Wholegarment" technology). While focused on knitted rather than woven products, it represents a competing path for brands seeking on-demand production capabilities.

SoftWear Automation builds "Sewbots" for automating the sewing of basic garments like t-shirts. Though currently focused on high-volume automation rather than one-off customization, if their technology matures, a factory of Sewbots could compete with Unspun's microfactory concept for certain product categories.

The broader challenge comes from traditional manufacturers themselves, who may develop their own on-demand capabilities or partner with technology providers. Some large vertically integrated manufacturers in countries like China, Vietnam and Bangladesh have already begun experimenting with smaller batch production and quicker turnaround times in response to changing market demands.

Unspun's initial focus on jeans and pants represents just a fraction of the global apparel market. The Vega 3D weaving technology currently works best for relatively narrow tubes (ideal for pant legs), but expanding to other garment types represents a massive TAM opportunity.

If Unspun can adapt its technology to create larger or more complex shapes, they could move into shirts, dresses, jackets, or even non-apparel products like footwear uppers or bags. Each new category would multiply their addressable market significantly – the global denim market alone is approximately $65 billion, while the broader apparel market exceeds $1.5 trillion.

The development of new weaving capabilities or complementary technologies could also enable Unspun to address higher-margin products like performance apparel, where precise fit and reduced seams provide functional benefits beyond aesthetics.

Unspun's vision of microfactories near every major city represents a fundamental reshaping of apparel supply chains. Current production concentrates in low-cost countries far from consumers, resulting in long lead times, high transportation emissions, and inflexible capacity.

Rising tariffs and geopolitical tensions are already forcing brands to reconsider this model. The end of the de minimis exemption and new 10-20% tariffs on Chinese parcels are disrupting traditional dropshipping and forcing companies to develop more resilient supply networks.

Unspun's technology offers a solution by making local, small-batch production economically viable. Rather than one massive factory making 100,000 garments in Asia, they envision a network of micro-units making 1,000 garments each closer to consumers. This TAM isn't just capturing existing production value but creating new value through speed, sustainability, and resilience.

The Walmart partnership indicates that major retailers see potential in this model, not just for sustainability or marketing reasons, but as a practical response to supply chain challenges. If Unspun can demonstrate success with Walmart, other major retailers will likely follow.

Unspun's eventual goal of circularity—taking garments back for "unspinning" and re-weaving—opens an entirely new market dimension. The global textile waste problem is massive, with approximately 92 million tons of textile waste created annually and less than 1% of clothing recycled into new garments.

If Unspun succeeds in making textile recycling more efficient through their technology, they wouldn't just participate in new clothes production but would also enter the recycling/reuse market. This could involve positioning microfactories in recycling centers and turning old clothes into new ones, capturing value from both ends of the apparel life cycle.

This circular model aligns with increasing regulatory pressure around textile waste. As more governments enact rules penalizing unsold inventory or mandating producer responsibility for end-of-life products, Unspun's technology could become a compliance solution for brands, dramatically expanding their potential customer base beyond those motivated primarily by efficiency or customization.

Capital intensity: Unspun's hardware-based business model requires substantial investment to scale production of Vega machines and develop new manufacturing capabilities. This capital-intensive approach means the company must continue raising significant funding or generating strong cash flow to support growth, making it vulnerable during downturns when capital becomes constrained or if production scaling encounters technical challenges.

Production economics: While Unspun's technology offers material savings and eliminates inventory risk, the per-unit production costs currently remain higher than traditional mass manufacturing. The 3D weaving technology is still early in its development curve, and achieving cost parity with conventional methods at scale is crucial for widespread adoption beyond sustainability-focused brands and pilot projects.

Consumer adoption timing: The market for custom-fit apparel relies on changing consumer expectations around sizing, delivery times, and pricing. Most consumers are accustomed to immediate availability and standardized sizing despite fit issues. If the transition to a made-to-order, custom-fit mindset takes longer than anticipated, Unspun may struggle to achieve the volumes needed to support their infrastructure investments and technology development.