OUR STORY
PYRATEX® was born with the mission to replace synthetic, functional textiles with natural and more responsible options.
Today, our international team works its magic from our Madrid-based HQ.
REGINA POLANCO
Founder & CEO
Regina leads our team, setting the strategic path we follow towards thriving more each day. She has travelled and lived in many countries, a love for travel which she shares with many of her Millennial generation. This led to the creation of PYRATEX® in Switzerland in 2014 as an answer to their challenges and ideals.
A Law graduate, she started developing PYRATEX® smart fabrics by collaborating with different European textile institutes. For example, during her participation at the Fashion Fusion incubator program, powered by Deutsche Telekom and Adidas, as well as Look Forward by Showroomprivé.
This experience allows her to legally protect the PYRATEX® technology and understand the consumer’s desire to take care of their health and to consume in a conscious manner.
MERY DÍEZ HERBOSA
Head of R&D and Production
Mery is in charge of our Production and R&D. She has studied a BSc in Business Management & Marketing, an MBA Business Expert Program and a Masters in International Management and Marketing of Luxury Products.
Having previously occupied positions in product management, buying and production for different B2C brands with a special focus on sustainability, Mery now manages our production team as well as R&D projects.
MICHELLE CHERUBIN
Business Development
With experience in customer service, employee development, operations and supply chain management, Michelle graduated from a Master's in Management from IE Business School. She now contributes to our growth, developing new strategies and supporting our clients.
SIMONE AVANTAGGIATO
Administration & Operations
A finance graduate, Simone studied a Masters degree in Micro-finance and financial inclusion, and previous experience in operations departments in a number of companies, has prepared Simone for his current position at PYRATEX® where he takes care of our Administration and Operations.
ALBA MURILLO
Logistics & Operations
Alba first joined PYRATEX® in 2018 during her BA in Fashion Design internship. After graduating, and experience working in Sales for a number of fashion brands, she is back, and carries out our logistics. Alba also supports our collaborations involving collection co-designing and garment pre-production support.
IETJE KLAVER
Head of Operations
As our Head of Operations, Ietje organises and oversees our daily operations, ensuring our company is well coordinated.
Her extensive experience in the fashion industry at B2C companies such as Chanel or Ecoalf allow her to efficiently manage our procedures and coach our team to remain cohesive and connected throughout our growth. She embodies the PYRATEX® identity through her deep knowledge of textiles and sourcing at fashion brands, as well as international background: she has lived in Amsterdam, Paris, Zurich, San Francisco, London, and now Madrid.
ALEJANDRA MAESTRE
Business Development
Alejandra supports our Business Development team’s relationships with our European clients. She is trilingual in English, Spanish and French, and is currently completing her MSc in International Business at Kedge Business School.
PILAR TEJADA LÓPEZ
Head of Brand & Communication
Through her creative vision, Pilar is at the core of the brand's identity. She is trilingual in English, French and Spanish, has lived in various countries, as well as worked for a number of fashion brands in design, production, business development and communication positions.
She now supports the clients PYRATEX® collaborates with to communicate the brand’s identity and technology according to their own.
Her BA in Fashion Design and participation at ASICS' Tenkan Ten program have equally contributed to her now occupying an important role at PYRATEX®, where she manages content creation, communication, PR, marketing, as well as business development for specific markets. This ensures the PYRATEX® identity is maintained throughout our activities.
SOFIE STABELL- JOHANSEN
Production Assistant
Sofie recently joined our team, having graduated from a Bachelor Degree in Retail Management with a specialisation in Supply chain Management, and a Masters Degree in Supply Chain Management & Logistics. She supports our team in managing our productions and relationships with our fiber suppliers, yarn suppliers, and mills, ensuring we can maintain a fully controlled traceability of our entire production chain.
MARIA CERECEDO
Business Development
A fashion design and MBA graduate, Maria is based in North America and carries out our business development in the US market.
Aside from being trilingual in English, Spanish and French, she has worked at fashion brands in London and Paris, allowing her to gain valuable experience in design, product development and relationships with our clients.
SOLEDAD CORTÉS
Brand & Communication
A fashion translator and copywriter, Soledad studied a Masters degree in Fashion Marketing & Communication at ESIC Madrid Business School. Her interdisciplinary background and linguistic knowledge allow her to understand our clients' unique communication needs and support them in their use of PYRATEX® as well as to efectively manage our social media.
ALINA BUTKO
Logistics & Operations Assistant
Alina graduated from a BA in International Relations at Rey Juan Carlos university which allows her to provide support to our Logistics team, making sure our clients’ orders preparation is well taken care of and that everything in the day to day goes as smoothly as possible.
CHLOÉ MAUDUIT
R&D Assistant
Chloé is a textile engineer graduated from Roubaix’s prestigious ENSAIT University. She has previous experience in fashion and textile laboratories, and supports our PYRATEX® R&D team in researching our fabrics’ biological origins, R&D projects and tests.
JOHANNA NUEZ
Business Development
Johanna supports our Business Development in France and Spain following her Master’s in Financial Management, and MBA at UADE.
ADVISORS
SÉBASTIEN LEFEBVRE
CEO at Growth Drivers Ltd. Entrepreneurship coach, entrepreneur, advisor, investor
As a serial entrepreneur and a clear example of a successful founder who sold his company, Sébastien is a growth strategy expert, and the perfect advisor for a rising company such as PYRATEX®, where he supports the alignment of our business strategy and the development of our capacity to deliver results against cross-functional strategies with product, marketing, business development, research & analytics, and operations ·
HIROAKI KAGEYAMA
President of ASICS Ventures Corporation and Head of Global Business Development at ASICS Corporation
Leader of ASICS’ business development team and founder of the ASICS Corporate venturing subsidiary which invested in PYRATEX® on our first investment round, Mr. Kageyama has enriched our company due to his outstandingly remarkable experience in the banking and retail industry.
FELIPE CARRASCO
Expert Economist in European Funds
A profound knowledge of the spanish textile industry, where he has occupied a number of positions throughout his career, such as Secretary General of the Spanish Intertextile Council, makes Felipe an important asset for PYRATEX®, as he now works with SMEs, start-ups and hi-tech companies in developing projects to improve their activities in areas such as innovation management, financial development strategy, search for financing for innovative projects, dynamization of teams to generate creativity, and the development of innovative projects ·
JAAP ZANDBERGEN
Coach and Mentor at Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME)
Jaap became our advisor following our win of phase 1 of Horizon2020. He is an International Managing Director experienced in sustainability, marketing, innovation & product development, lean & change management, and sales in B2B & B2C markets.
His broad hands on knowledge of general management, coaching teams, keeping of budgets and alignment of strategies & targets makes him an ideal advisor for PYRATEX®.
AWARDS
03/2021
EIBT is awarded by ANCES (the national association of CEEIs) that recognises innovative technology-based companies as an organization that produces goods and services with high added value, committed to the design, development and production of new products and / or innovative manufacturing processes.
06/2020
Finalist of the EmprendedorXXI award, organised by CaixaBank
02/2020
Exhibitor at Première Vision Paris
07/2019
Winner of phase 1 of the European Union's Horizon2020 grant for innovative textile companies, currently preparing phase 2 ·
07/2019
PYRATES smart fabrics has been named "National Winner" in the 2019 European Business Awards, one of the world's largest business competitions ·
07/2018
"Categoría Empresa" nominees
09/2017
Winner of the Avantex pitch challenge: Materials & Components category
02/2019
Exhibitor at Première Vision Paris
09/2018
Collaboration & Tenkan Ten program participation
06/2018
Invited as a sustainable innovation expert
01/2017
Finalist of 4-month long program in Berlin
07/2017
Winner Activewear category
