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.
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 carries out our business development in the American 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 management.
CARLOTA RENDUELES
Brand & Communication Assistant
Carlota has joined our team following her graduation from Rey Juan Carlos university where she studied Marketing. Her previous experience in B2C sales, and creative mind, allow her to now understand our clients' needs and support them in communicating their use of PYRATEX® in the clearest manner possible to their customers.
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.
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 PYRATES, 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 ·
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 PYRATES, 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 ·
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 PYRATES on our first investment round, Mr. Kageyama has enriched our company due to his outstandingly remarkable experience in the banking and retail industry ·
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 PYRATES smart fabrics ·
AWARDS
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 ·
02/2019
Exhibitor at Première Vision Paris
09/2018
Collaboration & Tenkan Ten program participation
07/2018
"Categoría Empresa" nominees
06/2018
Invited as a sustainable innovation expert
01/2017
Finalist of 4-month long program in Berlin
09/2017
Winner of the Avantex pitch challenge: Materials & Components category
07/2017
Winner Activewear category
