With $7m in pocket, Nibertex looks to corner waterproof tech market

On a Thursday night, at a private social club in Manila, two founders held up a neon green North Face jacket — and a roomful of venture capitalists applauded.

The applause wasn’t for the jacket alone but (for) the technology bound to it: a Philippines-made membrane proprietary to Nibertex, invisible once bonded to fabric, yet engineered to block water while letting air pass through.

The technology has caught the eye of investors, compelling enough for TNB Aura to make its first major investment in the Philippines. Nibertex has secured $7 million in Series A funding, led by the Singapore-based venture capital firm, with participation from existing backers Asian Development Bank (ADB), Faircrest Holding, and Foxmont Capital Partners.

Nibertex produces waterproof and breathable textile membranes without using PFAS, a class of synthetic chemicals commonly employed for water and stain resistance in apparel, medical supplies, and packaging. 

These chemicals have drawn increasing regulatory scrutiny worldwide over concerns about their persistence in the environment and potential health impacts. In response, jurisdictions including the US, EU, and parts of Asia-Pacific are moving to restrict or ban their use.

Nibertex says its manufacturing process, based on electrospinning technology, allows it to create membranes that avoid PFAS while maintaining waterproofing and breathability — a solution gaining attention as the industry seeks alternatives amid tightening regulations.

“PFAS-free performance materials are no longer a ‘nice to have’ — they’re fast becoming a requirement,” said Richard Beck, Nibertex’s chief strategy officer (CSO) and a former senior executive at WL Gore & Associates, the maker of Gore-Tex. Gore-Tex leads the performance waterproof membrane market that Nibertex is seeking to disrupt.

Jae M Park, co-founder of Nibertex, told DealStreetAsia that majority of the proceeds of the $7-million fundraise will largely be funnelled to ramp up production amid the increasing demand. 

“When we got the North Face contract through our Korean client, we didn’t have the funds to increase our production capacity to supply the orders. This was last year. We realised that our business is bound for high growth. It’s a big, big market, and we’re still small. That’s why we started talking to investors across the region,” Park told DealStreetAsia. 

The co-founder also said they will channel a portion of the funds to speed up R&D for applications beyond apparel and expand its market reach through new partnerships.

Nibertex started in 2019 with around 25 employees, including production operators based in Cavite, about an hour and a half from Manila. Park said that as of 2025, the company has grown to about 140 staff, with 25 in the office and the rest contract production operators.

In terms of production geography, Park told this publication that they intend to keep their manufacturing plant in the Philippines. 

“When we started the company, it was important for us to keep manufacturing in the Philippines. We’re a high-margin business because of our technology and value, so manufacturing costs here aren’t burdensome,” Park said. The two co-founders, who are brothers, come from a family with a history of textile manufacturing in the country.

Looking ahead, Park sees the technology behind that neon green jacket — which once drew investor applause in Manila — driving Nibertex to $100 million in revenue by 2030.

“When you walk into stores like Patagonia, North Face, or Nike, we want our fabric brand to be right there on the shelf,” Park told DealStreetAsia. “Our goal is to reach $100 million in revenue within five years and be recognised alongside the leading chemically compliant brands in the market.”