Smartex has developed machine-vision-driven software that identifies defects in fabric production in real time to stop manufacturing and prevent waste. The system helps factories detect imperfections earlier in the supply chain, reducing downstream rework and product issues. The company positions its product around a sustainability/green angle to make textile production cleaner and more efficient. Co-founder and CEO Gilberto Loureiro draws on personal and professional roots in textile factories and a master’s in physics. Smartex plans to expand into new geographies — highlighting Asian production hubs such as Bangladesh, Vietnam and China — and to grow its team, with a longer-term goal of entering other industries to cut industrial waste. Financially, Smartex raised a $24.7M Series A (valuation undisclosed) and previously raised a $2.9M seed in 2019 co-led by DCVC and Spider Capital. Smartex builds a device with cameras and proprietary AI that monitors fabric within 10 cm of production, detecting defects in real time and signaling machines to stop for adjustment. The system finds defects visible to human inspectors and those invisible to the eye, reducing defective output toward zero. The company positions its product as bringing Industry 4.0 to the $3 trillion textile sector and addressing an estimated $33bn annual raw-material loss from defects. Smartex was founded in 2018 by Gilberto Loureiro, António Rocha, and Paulo Ribeiro, with founders having operated the same types of machines where the solution is installed. The team was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2020. Financially, Smartex completed a $2.6M funding round and also secured $2.2M in grant funding from the European Union.

Total raised

$30M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Nov 2022