Best Fashion Tech Companies in North Carolina, United States
The 75 best Fashion Tech companies in North Carolina, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Stio.
Our analysis of 116 Fashion Tech companies
$9.4b in tracked funding; 97% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2021.
Ranked: Best Fashion Tech companies in North Carolina
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Founder | Founded | Tech stack | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stio Online retailer of multiple sports apparel | $43M | 37 mo ago | Series B | Stephen Sullivan Founder & CEO | 2011 | PrismicShopifySentry+49 | — | — |
| 2 | Badger Sport Online retailer offering sports apparel for men and women made from performance fabrics | $21M | 102 mo ago | Acquired | Jerry Carr CEO | 1971 | — | — | 5 job openings · 1 launch |
| 3 | Keel Labs Manufacturer of bio materials for textile industry | $17M | 48 mo ago | Series A | — | 2017 | WebflowApple iCloud MailGoogle Workspace+10 | 8 patents Alginate polymer synthesis and processing for food, pharma, and biotech applications. | — |
| 4 | imagine.io B2B SaaS platform providing 3D content creation platform for furniture and textile manufacturers | $7M | 54 mo ago | Series A | — | 2016 | Framer SitesApple iCloud MailGoogle Workspace+30 | 102 patents Retail display packaging solutions and layered battery storage technologies | 1 launch |
| 5 | House of Blueberry Internet first brand offering multi-category digital wear fashion products | $6M | 41 mo ago | Seed | Gizem Mcduff Founder & CEO | 2012 | Webflow EcommerceShopifyWebflow+14 | — | — |
| 6 | Lauren James Classic, confident, and creative apparel for women, offering stylish collections | $4M | 104 mo ago | Seed | Lauren Stokes Founder & CEO | 2013 | Cart FunctionalityShopifyShop Pay+27 | — | — |
| 7 | Entogenetics Provider of genetically engineered spider silk from silkworms for commercial-scale production | $540K | 155 mo ago | Deadpooled | David Brigham Founder & CEO | 2007 | — | 9 patents Biotechnological production of recombinant spider silk proteins for advanced biomaterials | — |
| 8 | Vëndr Online community-based hyperlocal shopping platform for fashion products | $300K | 136 mo ago | Deadpooled | Jian Zou CEO | 2015 | — | — | — |
| 9 | Unbox the Dress Online platform offering bridal gown redesigning and preservation services for heirlooms | $225K | 44 mo ago | Seed | Grace Rojek Founder & CEO | 2016 | Cart FunctionalityShopifySwym Wishlist Plus+33 | — | — |
| 10 | Fashivly Online platform offering personalized personal styling guides and solutions | $175K | 23 mo ago | Seed | Mollye Rivera Co-Founder | 2021 | Cart FunctionalityShopifyTailwind CSS+21 | — | — |
| 11 | Jenni earle Internet first brand offering fashion accessories | $158K | 45 mo ago | Seed | Jenni Hopkins Founder | 2015 | Cart FunctionalityShopifyTailwind CSS+23 | — | — |
| 12 | Renaissance Fiber Manufacturer of softened hemp fiber for textile industry applications 21Talent top 38%Funding bottom 39%Market bottom 37%Global bottom 29% All 4 signals ▾Talenttop 38% Fundingbottom 39% Marketbottom 37% Globalbottom 29% Talent: 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated Funding: Raised $125k across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 5 yrs (0.4/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 21/100 | $125K | 2 mo ago | Seed | Michael Long Founder | 2018 | — | — | — |
Top 12 Fashion Tech companies in North Carolina
#1
Seed · Wilmington, North Carolina · founded 2018$125Kraised▾
Manufacturer of softened hemp fiber for textile industry applications. It offers degummed hemp fiber ready for integration into spinning operations. Custom yarns and textiles can be created for specific applications. The company provides traceability and a reliable supply chain. Hemp fiber improves cotton performance, enhancing durability, abrasion resistance, and resistance to fire, mold, mildew, and UV light.
- Apr 2026Grant (prize money)—
- Apr 2026Conventional Debt—
- May 2025Seed$75K
- Dec 2021Grant (prize money)$50K
#2
Series B · Wilson, North Carolina · founded 2011 · 100 employees$42.6Mraised▾
Online retailer of multiple sports apparel. Its product portfolio includes jackets, shirts, pants, thermals, hoodies tech. Their manufacturing is done in the US, Canada and China with textiles sourced from the USA, Italy, Switzerland, Japan, Portugal, China, Taiwan, and Korea.
- May 2023Series B$20M
- Aug 2019Series A$4.4M
- Jun 2018Series A$3.6M
- May 2017Series A$6.8M
#3
Series A · Morrisville, North Carolina · founded 2017 · 26 employees$17.4Mraised▾
Manufacturer of bio materials for textile industry. The platform provides threads and materials from seaweed-based yarn.
- Jun 2022Series A$13M
- Mar 2021Seed$2.1M
- Nov 2018Seed$2.2M
- Jan 2018Seed$100K
#4
Seed · Raleigh, North Carolina · founded 2012 · 11 employees$6Mraised▾
Internet first brand offering multi-category digital wear fashion products. The product catalog includes gowns, party dresses, pantsuits, tops, skirts, jackets, and other apparel products. It also has theme-based digital wear for users to buy.
- Dec 2022Seed$6M
#5
Acquired · Statesville, North Carolina · founded 1971 · 312 employees$20.7Mraised▾
Online retailer offering sports apparel for men and women made from performance fabrics. The offerings include t-shirts, tanks, shorts, pants, outerwear, sweatshirts, and accessories from various brands. The company claims the apparel is made from performance fabrics with features like has an audio port, water-resistant, weather-resistant, and more.
#6
Series A · Winston-salem, North Carolina · founded 2016 · 72 employees$7.1Mraised▾
B2B SaaS platform providing 3D content creation platform for furniture and textile manufacturers. Users can upload existing product images or request the creation of 3D models from images and measurements. It generates lifestyle shots that support customers envision products in environments.
- Dec 2021Series A$6M
- Aug 2020Seed$1.1M
#7
Seed · Charlotte, North Carolina · founded 2021$175Kraised▾
Online platform offering personalized personal styling guides and solutions. The platform claims to offer industry-experienced stylists who curate looks based on a questionnaire and style inspiration. The company mainly offers a personalized digital lookbook of multiple outfits designed for individuals.
- Jul 2024Seed$175K
#8
Seed · Fayetteville, North Carolina · founded 2013 · 50 employees$4.2Mraised▾
Classic, confident, and creative apparel for women, offering stylish collections. The company provides a wide range of clothing options, including tops, sweatshirts, hoodies, shirts, sweaters, jackets, tanks, dresses, bottoms, pants, and shorts. They offer various styles such as graphic tees, short sleeve, and long sleeve options. New arrivals and seasonal collections like the Gingham Collection, Cowboys x LJ, Retro Gym Set, and Resort Collection are regularly featured. The website offers account login, search functionality, and a shopping cart for easy online purchases. They also provide customer support resources like contact information, FAQs, and a size guide. The brand engages with customers through social media platforms and offers a newsletter subscription for updates. The business model is B2C, focusing on direct sales to consumers through its e-commerce platform.
- Oct 2017Seed$1.2M
- Dec 2015Seed$3M
#9
Seed · Winston-salem, North Carolina · founded 2016 · 22 employees$225Kraised▾
Online platform offering bridal gown redesigning and preservation services for heirlooms. The platform offers services like" Save your dress" which enables users to clean, repair, and store wedding dresses at museum quality storage. Unbox the dress helps the users to redesign their wedding dresses for their heirlooms. It offers features like custom-designed services, online quizzes, and more.
- Oct 2022Seed$225K
- Feb 2021Seed—
- Nov 2020Conventional Debt$250K
#10
Seed · Winston-salem, North Carolina · founded 2015 · 3 employees$157.5Kraised▾
Operator of a bandana store designed to offer hand-illustrated and printed bandanas. The company offers bandanas that are cut, sewn, and dyed by hand, and other gifting goods, enabling customers to choose from a variety of gifting options.
#11
Deadpooled · Charlotte, North Carolina · founded 2007 · 11 employees$540.2Kraised▾
Provider of genetically engineered spider silk from silkworms for commercial-scale production. The company has developed a process for large scale, inexpensive spider silk production from genetically engineered silkworms. EntoGenetics’ technology removes the silk gene from a silkworm and replaces it with spider silk gene. The inserted spider silk gene is then used by the silkworm to make its cocoon.
- Jul 2013Seed$540.2K
#12
Deadpooled · Chapel Hill, North Carolina · founded 2015$300Kraised▾
Vendr provides an online community-based hyperlocal shopping platform for fashion products. It allows sellers to list their store products on its platform and users can like the products, follow & live-chat with stores, and purchase directly through the app for store pick-up. Users can additionally share items they like, products purchased, and their favorite retailers on social media such as Facebook & Twitter. The app is available on iOS platforms.
- Jan 2015Seed$300K
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Fashion Tech coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
How research on Textiles & Wearable Materials is moving in the United States
A read on the academic research around Textiles & Wearable Materials — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 288 United States-affiliated papers.
- North Carolina State University19
- University of California, Los Angeles14
- University of Rhode Island12
- University of Minnesota11
- Utah State University10
- Wearable computer6→14
- Nanotechnology2→8
- Wireless1→6
- Composite material2→6
- Embedded system2→6
- Electrical conductor1→7
- Wearable technology2→7
- Wearable computer8→12
- Composite material2→5
- Electronics2→4
- Wearable computer9
- Wearable technology9
- Clothing7
- Architectural engineering5
- Electronics3
Where textiles tech is researched across United States
Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.
Who's filing textiles tech patents in the United States
United States textiles tech patent filing is steady — 46 filings from 40 assignees (2016–2025), led by MMI IPCO, Textronics, Cocona; annual filings 2→2.
- MMI IPCO15
- Textronics13
- Cocona10
- IBM9
- Liquid X Printed Metals7
- MIDE Technology6
- Debock Kimberly ANN5
- Fabian David James5
Common questions
Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.