United Repair Centre boosts repair revolution across Europe with impact investment and new Paris location
Repairing the broken apparel system gets one step closer today as circularity innovator United Repair Centre (URC) announces it will launch a new repair hub in the fashion capital of Paris.
This will be the third European location for the repair and social inclusion company, following the launch of repair hubs in Amsterdam and London, to handle repairs of leading brands such as Patagonia, lululemon, Levi’s, Arc’teryx, The North Face and Decathlon. It is made possible through new investment of 3.2 million Euros from a group of impact investors from the Netherlands and France, plus the support of the city of Paris. The investment in URC will also enable two new European hubs to open in the next two years, as well as a tech team to further develop the proprietary service platforms used by URC’s customers.
Given Paris’s heritage as the epicentre of fashion for Europe, the new hub will provide an opportunity to incite behaviour change among citizens and businesses, encouraging repair over buying new. It will be based in the vibrant 13th arrondissement, in a new, architecturally designed space that already houses a range of circularity and social inclusion organisations.
Founded in partnership with outdoor brand Patagonia, with the support of Amsterdam Economic Board, United Repair Centre is headed by CEO Thami Schweichler and COO Paul Kerssens, who share a passion for making repair the new cool, through a network of socially inclusive repair hubs across Europe.
Thami Schweichler, founder and CEO, United Repair Centre says: “France has led the world in instigating bold and ambitious policies to curb the rise of cheap, badly made clothing, so it always made sense for us to bring the United Repair Centre philosophy to Paris. And seeing the launch of Shein’s first physical store in the city, we’re getting here just in time to demonstrate the social and environmental impacts of repairing the clothes you already love, rather than buying new things you don’t need.”
United Repair Centre Paris will launch in February 2026 with a team of local repair technicians, many of whom come from a refugee background and have been tailors in the past. Alongside the repair business there will be a United Repair Academy on site, offering training and a guaranteed job at the end of the course to people who have challenges in gaining employment.
The investment round is a collaboration between impact finance and social entrepreneurship investment companies Phitrust and makesense in France and Belgium, and ROM InWest in the Netherlands, plus early stage Dutch investors DOEN Ventures and Parrot Eyes. Funding was facilitated by Generous Minds.
Schweichler adds: “When we envisaged bringing together the very best companies in purpose investment, we hoped we would find true partners to share our ethos and ambitions. The future of United Repair Centre as a catalyst for systems level change across Europe, driven by technology and repair craft, has been made possible by this dream team of financial innovators. We’re beyond delighted.”
Rogier de Groot, Impact Investment Manager at DOEN Ventures: “To make the apparel industry more sustainable, it is essential to repair and re-use the vast amount of clothing that already exists today. United Repair Centre has proven that this can be done at scale and in a socially inclusive way. URC enables the transition towards making repair the standard for brands in Europe and accessible to all consumers.”
