Fashionable Waste

Financing the growth strategy for a Spanish upcycling brand.

Investment overview

Impact category

Green economy

Investment type

Loan

Yearly interest

5.85

Term

months

Risk level

C+

Vaho is a sustainable fashion brand and upcycling veteran from Barcelona, that has dedicated itself for the last 20 years (since 2001) to recovering advertising banners and giving them a second chance as sustainable handbags and accessories.

This is GoParity's first campaign for a Spanish promotor.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Vaho was forced to close its selling points and is now resorting solely to online sales. Now, Vaho's intention is to reopen a physical shop and boost production to become more efficient and grow to other European markets.

To reach these goals, Vaho will need a total investment of 52.000€, of which 20.000€ will be financed through GoParity. This funds to be obtained through this campaign will be used for:

Increasing production;
Expanding installations
Creating additional lines of production in order to be more efficient;
Increasing stock for their B2B clients and for their website;
Adapting their website to be able to sell to top-quality marketplaces around Europe;
Open a physical store in Spain.
Set up selling points in several physical shops.

What is the impact?

Direct:

Waste reuse and reduction: to produce 20.000 bags and accessories Vaho uses 186 tons of materials that would go to waste. Since its foundation, the company has upcycled almost 4.000 tons of waste for its products. The materials that are upcycled are banners used for marketing and publicity, coffee packages, or truck and bicycle wheels. Vaho has institutional agreements with multiple museums, municipalities, and fairs, helping them reduce their waste as well.
Local, handmade, and low-impact production: all the production processes take place locally in Spain. Local action and engagement are one of the organization’s main focuses. Vaho uses natural substances for the cleaning process (such as vinegar) and the assembly of the pieces is handmade.
Jobs creation: through the expected growth of the company, they expect to generate at least 4 new direct jobs in the coming years.

Impact indicators
‍

CO2 avoided per year

clean energy

created by our projects

of sustainable

impacted

Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals
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About the Promoter

About

VAHO UPCYCLE, S.L.

Vaho found its purpose in transforming waste created from marketing and advertising into useful and fashionable products. Every day thousands of banners are removed from the streets and discarded, for over 20 years, Vaho has dedicated itself to upcycling these single-use materials into bags, backpacks, handbags, wallets, and other accessories. More recently the brand also started to use other materials such as coffee packages, or truck and bicycle wheels, to make handbags.

Although currently there are other brands doing similar work, Vaho was the first in the world to employ a model to re-use advertising posters and bicycle wheels, by giving them a second life as useful and beautiful bags and accessories.

The company is concerned about every step of its manufacturing process. From cleaning the materials, which is carried out with vinegar in local associations, to making the final products, in their own facilities and in collaboration with other sustainability-focused projects in the Barcelona region.

Vaho frequently cooperates with municipalities, museums, and private organizations that share the same commitment to innovation and sustainability.

Promoter website

https://vaho.es/en/

Business Model
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