STAND Up! Textile Eco-Innovation Challenge

La Brocante Challenge: Producing Sustainable Fabrics

Innovate sustainable fabrics for La Brocante to use in upcycling donated furniture in order to create a socially and environmentally sustainable product

About La Brocante

La Brocante, is a social enterprise with a mission to collect abandoned and recycled materials to upcycle them using the talents of people with difficulties (PWD) and transform them into functional art and vintage furniture. Their mission is to give value to things that have been abandoned. La Brocante never stopped helping people in need; until today La Brocante provides free services and furniture to those who cannot afford them.

Why the challenge is launched

La Brocante, through its upcycling donation business model, receives large numbers of non-recyclable fabrics that cannot be reused, upcycled, or recycled. Therefore, La Brocante is looking for a solution to support it in enhancing the community impact and contributing to a more circular economy through exploring new types of sustainable fabrics.

La Brocante’s main challenge is the increase of non-recyclable fabrics in its workshop. La Brocante, therefore, is seeking a solution that concentrates on developing new sustainable fabrics and materials that will be utilized in repurposing donated furniture. This solution will help reinforce La Brocante’s circular business model.

How to participate in this challenge

If you are an early and growth stage venture in the textile and clothing sector or an independent entrepreneur offering a potential innovative solution to one of the challenges posted in Lebanon, head to The Switchers’ Open-Eco Innovation Platform, create an account, and ‘Submit a new idea’.

Make sure to include the following in the description of your solution:

What is the solution you are proposing?
How is it solving the challenge in question?
Why is innovative?
How is it sustainable?
How your venture/innovation can be beneficial to the company in question
Prove the feasibility of your solution.
How are you planning to spend the voucher of €20,000?

Feel free to attach any document that can give us a clearer idea about the innovative solution and how you are planning to implement it.

Why you should apply

A Voucher of €20,000 for the selected solution to develop and implement the solution and to be spent on prototyping and external expertise.
Access to the company’s experience, know-how, expertise, and networks.
Visibility services
Support in positioning the startups in the market (brand awareness).
Involvement with prestigious brand, stable financial standing, network of connections and a developed product ecosystem.
Ability to test the solution with La Brocante and then apply this solution with other furniture designers and textile companies.
A chance to connect with La Brocante’s network for exposure and visibility.
A chance to have the fabrics used by entrepreneurs in the exhibited upcycled furniture, and through a mutually-agreed-on percentage of revenues received from every sold piece at La Brocante’s showrooms in Galaxy Mall and in arcenciel’s Damour Center.

Applications are now closed.

Apply now and benefit from €20,000 to implement your innovative solution!

Head to The Switchers' Open-Eco Innovation Platform, create an account, and start your application. The solution will be developed and implemented between February and June 2023.

Get to know the context of this challenge

The challenge is launched by  La Brocante  in collaboration with   Berytech  in the framework of the  STAND Up! Project,  an.  ENICBC Med  funded project that aims to enhance scalable, replicable, and inclusive circular economy ventures in the Mediterranean by developing an ecosystem of business support, innovation, and technology transfer leading to sustainable job creation for youth and women and the agreements between innovators/academy and entrepreneurs/SMEs by means of the available platforms. 