The fashion industry is responsible for 2 to 8 percent of global carbon emissions, and more than 100 billion tons of clothing are thrown away each year.
For Gangadhar Jogikalmath, this is a materials-science problem. Common textiles such as nylon are created from fossil fuels, and multiple materials are typically combined to make a garment—which makes the clothing difficult to recycle at end-of-life.
Dr. Jogikalmath is the CTO and co-founder of Return to Vendor, a startup pioneering an enhanced nylon that can mimic the properties of other textiles, including stretch and wicking. This souped-up nylon can serve as the sole material in a garment, even replacing zippers, velcro, and glue.
“Everything we wear has blends of materials in it to create all these properties,” Dr. Jogikalmath says. “We were able to distill it down and say, ‘Can we make everything with one single material?’ So at the end-of-life, you don’t need to disassemble it—you can recycle it in one single part.”
To make its nylon, Return to Vendor repurposes littered fishing nets. This is a plentiful, cheap feedstock; billions of pounds of fishing nets are discarded into oceans annually. Upcycling these nets cuts down on ocean pollution and eliminates needing to construct new nylon from fossil fuels—resulting in a 60 to 70 percent lower carbon footprint for the finished clothing, according to Dr. Jogikalmath.
The startup’s monomaterial clothing is easily recyclable, building truly circular garments.
“Every piece of used clothing is a feedstock for the next generation of clothing,” Dr. Jogikalmath says.
Return to Vendor closed a $5M seed round last year and has already secured partnerships with two major fashion brands. In 2025, the 10-person team has its eyes set on raising a Series A, increasing its production footprint, developing partnerships with additional clothing brands, and continuing to establish its supply chain.
Dr. Jogikalmath’s background is in materials science, and he has a track record of working on sustainability-focused innovations, including a flame-retardant fabric for the U.S. military that doesn’t require toxic coatings. He met his co-founder Adam Baruchowitz, the CEO of a clothing-recycling company, while they were walking their children to school, and the third co-founder William Calvert brings fashion and design expertise.
Return to Vendor became a member of Greentown Boston in 2024.
“We love the equipment and prototyping lab, and just the ecosystem—being able to connect with people who are working to solve similar problems and then learning from each other,” Dr. Jogikalmath says. “It’s very gratifying to work with like-minded people, and I’m really glad we have Greentown Labs to facilitate that. We go to the events, we talk to people, and they want to come visit our lab in Watertown, MA.”
