CETIA

What CETIA does

CETIA is a French innovation platform, co-founded in December 2021 by engineering school ESTIA and the European textile innovation platform CETI, that develops and operates automated sorting and dismantling technologies for end-of-life textiles and footwear. Headquartered in Bidart and operating a 1,200 m² pilot hub in Hendaye, the company combines proprietary AI algorithms with multi-sensor hardware (X-ray via Brustia, 2D/3D vision, hyperspectral, NIR spectroscopy) and robotics to identify article composition, color, hard points, and typology, and to route items to the optimal recycling pathway. Its core product portfolio comprises the SensorHUB intelligent sorting cell (launched June 2025), the FiberSort NIR-based sorting system (Valvan), Dell'Orco & Villani delissing lines, the IDSHOES AI shoe recognition cell (>90% accuracy, 720 shoes/hour), and the Re_SHOES dismantling pilot line (4 shoes/minute glued, 2/minute injected/vulcanized), complemented by the UNLINEAR design-for-circularity methodology.

CETIA serves three B2B segments: fashion brands and manufacturers (DECATHLON, Groupe ERAM, Zalando, Salomon, J.M. Weston), collectors and sorters, and recyclers. Revenue is generated through professional services — industrial trials, material preparation optimization, bespoke R&D and process engineering, and training/consulting — delivered under custom multi-year engagements with no publicly disclosed pricing. The company is primarily grant-funded (€4.4 million identified across Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Refashion, EU POCTEFA, and Horizon 2020), with ownership resting with its founding institutional partners ESTIA and CETI under a SAS corporate form. CETIA is directed by Chloé Salmon-Legagneur and operates a sales-led, event-driven go-to-market through industry events (DESMA House Fair, Textiles Recycling Expo, Refashion Recycle Summit), monthly public site visits, and direct enterprise engagement.

Name

CETIA

Legal name

SAS CETIA

Website

https://cetia.tech

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CETIA is a French innovation platform that uses AI, sensors, and robotics to automate sorting and dismantling of end-of-life textiles and footwear for recycling, serving fashion brands (DECATHLON, Salomon, Zalando, J.M. Weston), collectors-sorters, and recyclers through industrial trials, R&D, and consulting services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bidart

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Industrial Trials and Technical Validation: CETIA conducts industrial trials and evaluates technologies on client-specific waste streams including textiles, footwear, accessories, bags, technical garments, luxury articles, neoprene suits, and shoe uppers to test viability and performance of sorting and dismantling technologies.
2. Material Preparation Optimization: Definition of sorting and dismantling protocols to guarantee recyclers a secondary raw material adapted to their specifications. Preparation of waste streams on pilot equipment at scale.
3. R&D and Process Engineering: Development and prototyping of sorting and dismantling solutions, design of customized automated sorting and dismantling production lines, and technology monitoring services.
4. Training and Consulting: Accompaniment of sorting centers for identification, selection and integration of automated detection and sorting technologies, and immersive workshops on end-of-life product management.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

CETIA operates a 1,200 m² innovation platform in Hendaye, France, that develops and deploys automated sorting and dismantling technologies for end-of-life textile and footwear articles. The platform combines multi-sensor systems (X-ray, 2D/3D vision, hyperspectral cameras, NIR), AI algorithms, and robotics to identify, sort, and separate garments and shoes into homogeneous fractions ready for recycling. CETIA also provides industrial trials, bespoke R&D, process engineering, and training services to brands, collectors-sorters, and recyclers.

Product overview

CETIA operates a platform-plus-equipment model: it provides access to proprietary and third-party industrial equipment for automated sorting and dismantling of end-of-life textiles and footwear, combined with R&D, consulting, and trial services. The core product portfolio centers on four named equipment lines — SensorHUB (AI-powered multimodal sensor sorting for textiles), FiberSort by Valvan (NIR-based fiber composition sorting), Dell'Orco & Villani (fiber opening lines), IDSHOES (AI-powered shoe recognition and sorting), and Re_SHOES (automated shoe upper-sole separation and material sorting) — all deployed at its Hendaye pilot facility. Services span industrial trials on client waste streams, bespoke process engineering, and advisory/training for sorting centers and brands. The SensorHUB platform acts as the flagship AI-driven sorting system, combining multiple sensor modalities with proprietary algorithms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Re_SHOES: Automated footwear dismantling pilot line that separates shoe soles from uppers and sorts soles by material composition
• SensorHUB
• IDSHOES
• UNLINEAR
• FiberSort

Products and services

• SensorHUB An intelligent automated sorting cell that combines X-ray, 2D/3D vision, hyperspectral cameras, NIR sensors, and CETIA-developed AI algorithms to identify article type, composition, color, and hard points in a single pass, routing each textile item to the optimal recycling pathway.
• IDSHOES An automated shoe detection and sorting cell using AI for real-time recognition of footwear typologies and brands, directing shoes toward appropriate reuse or recycling pathways at a rate of 720 shoes/hour with over 90% typology recognition accuracy.
• Re_SHOES A pilot shoe dismantling line that separates shoe uppers from soles through mechanical processes — heating and robotized tearing for glued shoes (4 shoes/minute) and high-pressure water jet cutting for injected, vulcanized, or sewn soles (2 shoes/minute) — followed by NIR-based sole material sorting.
• Industrial Trials and Technical Validation Testing and evaluation of sorting and dismantling technologies on client-specific waste streams including clothing, shoes, accessories, luggage, technical garments, luxury items, neoprene suits, and shoe uppers. Includes viability and performance assessment and definition of sorting and dismantling protocols to guarantee recyclers a secondary raw material adapted to their specifications.
• R&D and Process Engineering Development and configuration of future industrial solutions including prototyping of sorting and dismantling technology blocks, design of customized automated sorting and dismantling production lines, and technology monitoring services for the textile and footwear sector.
• Consulting, Training and Support Advisory services for sorting centers on identifying, selecting, and integrating automated detection and sorting technologies, plus immersive workshops on end-of-life product management for brands and industry stakeholders.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30% reduction in carbon footprint of textile products when using recycled material
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered secondary, primary, core and minor.

• CircularTexEFA PartnerssecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 March 202611 partners cooperating in the CircularTexEFA project (POCTEFA 2021-2027) to structure a cross-border circular textile value chain. Project focuses on collection, reuse, and recycling organization with awareness and training components. EU co-funds 65% of the project.
• RESCOLLprimaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 January 2025RESCOLL is partner in the OSCAR project (2025-2027) developing disassemblable footwear solutions. Contributes the INDAR primary technology enabling thermal activation for disassembly of multi-material structures.
• J.M. WestonprimaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 January 2025J.M. Weston is a luxury footwear manufacturer participating in the OSCAR project to develop disassemblable shoes for repair and recycling, contributing product design expertise and manufacturing capabilities.
• DECATHLONprimaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 April 2024DECATHLON is a founding innovation program partner engaged in R&D on circularity of clothing and footwear. Participates in the Re_SHOES program for footwear sole recyclability development, contributing product expertise and innovation requirements.
• GROUPE ERAMprimaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 April 2024GROUPE ERAM is a founding innovation program partner engaged in R&D on circularity of clothing and footwear. Participates in the Re_SHOES program for footwear sole recyclability development, contributing product expertise and innovation requirements.
• ZalandoprimaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 April 2024Zalando participates in the Re_SHOES program, contributing to the development of automated solutions for footwear recognition and sorting. As a major European fashion e-commerce platform, brings market perspective on circularity requirements.
• SalomonprimaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 April 2024Salomon participates in the Re_SHOES program for footwear recyclability, bringing expertise in sports and outdoor footwear design and manufacturing to inform dismantling and recycling solutions.
• ESTIAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 December 2021ESTIA, the engineering school of CCI Bayonne Pays Basque, co-created CETIA with CETI. ESTIA contributes expertise in smart factory automation, robotics, and AI solutions. Located on the IZARBEL technopole in Bidart, ESTIA brings powerful innovation ecosystem capabilities to the partnership.
• CETIcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 December 2021CETI (Centre Européen des Textiles Innovants), the European platform for textile experimentation and industrialization, co-created CETIA. CETI provides complementary expertise in textile material transformation and recycling, with demonstrator platforms in Roubaix for mechanical and thermomechanical recycling.
• Chaire BALIcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChaire BALI (Biarritz Active Lifestyle Industry) is a teaching and research program bringing together fashion and textile actors collaborating around ESTIA on environmental, societal, and economic transition. CETIA has been a member since 2023. CETIA contributed to the Chaire BALI working group on sorting, producing a European textile recycling industry mapping.
• ReValoremsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerReValorem participates in the Re_SHOES program, contributing expertise in textile and footwear waste management and valorization streams.
• L'Atelier des MatièressecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerL'Atelier des Matières participates in the Re_SHOES program, contributing expertise in textile material valorization and recycling sector knowledge.
• BRUSTIAcoreTechnology or IntegrationBRUSTIA (Brustia-Alfameccanica), founded in 1958 in Vigevano, Italy, is a world leader in X-ray quality control systems for fashion and luxury sectors. Provides exclusive X-ray integration for SensorHUB enabling detection of hidden buttons, zippers, rivets, and forgotten objects in textiles.
• VALVANprimaryTechnology or IntegrationVALVAN developed the FiberSort, a near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) based automated textile sorting machine. CETIA houses the FiberSort equipment for conducting sorting trials and preparing material for delissing and recycling phases.
• Dell'Orco E VillaniprimaryTechnology or IntegrationDell'Orco E Villani provides delissing equipment designed to efficiently remove hard points from textile articles to extract only fibers for recycling. CETIA operates this equipment for material preparation trials.
• SCIRT ConsortiumsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerSCIRT (System Circularity and Innovative Recycling of Textiles) was a 3-year Horizon 2020 project with 18 partners covering the entire textile value chain. Project demonstrated complete closed-loop textile recycling system feasibility from post-consumer textiles to new fibers and products.
• DESMA Schuhmaschinen GmbHminorGTM or Marketing PartnerDESMA organized the DESMA House Fair, a professional event for footwear industry technologies and innovations. CETIA participated to present its automated recognition and sorting solutions for footwear.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Tomra: Tomra is a global sensor-based sorting incumbent serving waste, recycling, and food streams at industrial scale. While not textile-focused, its NIR + AI sorting technology overlaps directly with CETIA's SensorHUB and FiberSort capabilities and could enter textile recycling with materially greater capital.

Direct peers

• Matoha: Matoha builds NIR-based textile identification instruments that determine fiber composition on demand — directly comparable to CETIA's FiberSort NIR spectroscopy sorting function. Both companies sell fiber-composition detection to recyclers and sorters.
• Infinited Fiber Company: Infinited Fiber Company regenerates cellulose-based textile fibers from mixed waste streams, representing a downstream comparable in the textile-circularity value chain CETIA serves as a sorting/dismantling supplier.
• Circ: Circ develops chemical recycling technology to separate polyester and cotton blends back into raw materials. It is a value-chain peer addressing the same textile-circularity bottleneck CETIA targets, though at a downstream fiber-regeneration stage.
• Pellenc ST: Pellenc ST designs and supplies sensor-based optical sorting equipment for waste streams including textiles, using NIR and AI similar to CETIA's FiberSort and SensorHUB. It is the closest direct functional peer in automated material-identification sorting for recycling.
• Worn Again Technologies: Worn Again Technologies is a UK-based PET and cotton textile-to-textile recycling company. It is a comparable peer operating in the same EU textile circularity ecosystem that CETIA's sorting/dismantling output feeds into.
• Renewcell: Renewcell pioneered dissolving-pulp based textile fiber recycling in Sweden. Despite recent restructuring, it remains a directly comparable value-chain peer for any platform addressing automated textile sorting and recycling at scale in Europe.
• Re&Up: Re&Up (part of Sanko) operates industrial-scale polyester and cotton recycling facilities, making it a downstream comparable peer — and a potential customer for CETIA's prepared, homogeneous input material streams.

Others

• Valvan: Valvan is the supplier of the FiberSort NIR sorting machine that CETIA operates in its Hendaye hub. It is an equipment supplier/partner rather than a competitor but operates adjacent textile-sorting technology.
• Brustia (Brustia-Alfameccanica): Brustia is an Italian X-ray quality-control systems provider for fashion/luxury sectors and supplies the exclusive X-ray integration in CETIA's SensorHUB. It is a technology supplier/partner rather than a competing recycler.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CETIA