“If I had to boil the problem Alante is trying to solve down to one word, it would be waste. Waste shows up everywhere, in carbon, in materials, in overproduction, and in things that are never even sold. That sustainability aspect is huge…”
— Karla Mora
The circular economy often gets discussed as an environmental idea. In this conversation, it shows up as an operating reality inside a $3 trillion-plus global apparel industry.
This episode is an end-of-year gift to listeners where I revisit an earlier conversation I had with Karla Mora, Founder and Managing Partner at Alante Capital. It remains one of the clearest, most grounded discussions I’ve had on what circular economy investing actually looks like when it’s applied inside a real industry.
The apparel industry mass-produces a tremendous amount of product and a large percentage of it never reaches customers.
Products move through a complex supply chain, brands routinely overproduce, and unsold or returned items are often written off as waste. In many cases, it’s simply cheaper for brands to destroy product than to resell it.
That waste is both a business problem and an environmental one. It also exposes how fragile and inefficient many supply chains really are.
Karla recognizes that much of the sustainability conversation in fashion was focused on visibility rather than viability. Fashion is flashy. The industry generates a lot of niche “sustainable” ideas that create buzz but don’t scale. And she knows that venture investing only works when solutions can compete on price, quality, and adoption. So if they can’t, Alante says no.
This is finance-first investing by design. “It has to be just a solid, good business.”
Alante invests early across the apparel value chain, with roughly a 50–50 split between material science and B2B software that enables a more efficient system. Across the portfolio, the focus is on reducing waste through solutions that brands can realistically adopt because they meet pricing, quality, and operational requirements.
In this conversation, the circular economy shows up as a system rooted in sustainable supply chains. Karla breaks it down across inputs, production, product use, and what happens when clothing reaches the end of its life.
Alante’s narrow industry focus allows the team to build deep partnerships with brands and suppliers, giving founders clear signals around quality, pricing, and what can realistically scale. That specificity is what separates Alante from more generalist climate funds.
Karla’s long-term vision is straightforward. She imagines a future where consumers buy clothing without needing to think about sustainability because responsible materials and practices have become the standard for how business is done.
For anyone focused on circular economy investing, sustainable supply chains, and the future of apparel, it remains as relevant today as when we recorded it.
Full episode: https://sri360.com/podcast/karla-mora/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/jV15PgYshmA
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Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SHOW NOTES:
[00:00] Introduction
[03:15] Reasons to focus on circular apparel
[06:19] Alante Capital’s mission, strategy, and fund structure
[09:35] Investor motivations
[10:52] Circular vs. linear economy in apparel
[15:06] Why apparel value chain offers climate opportunity
[18:17] Alante’s theory of change centered on waste
[19:40] End-to-end circular supply chain investment approach
[21:49] Impact dimensions and KPI measurement strategy
[35:52] Balancing financial returns with embedded impact
[47:00] Exit strategies across material science and software investments
[58:39] Future promise of tech-driven circular apparel solutions
MORE QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEWS:
“For us at Alante Capital, the goal is to create systemic change. We want to unlock systemic change in the apparel industry by enabling a more circular and decarbonized value chain, and I don’t think that approach needs to stop at apparel. ”
— Karla Mora
“The linear economy is take, make, waste. Inputs go in, a product gets used, and then it becomes waste. In the circular economy, the inputs go in, the product is used, and those inputs come back into the system. ”
— Karla Mora
