MOCKSVILLE, N.C. — October 20, 2026 — Renaissance Fiber has secured $2.239 million in combined financing to complete and operate its first commercial-scale hemp fiber processing facility in Mocksville, North Carolina.

The package includes $2 million in SBA-backed financing, a $100,000 low-interest loan from the Fibers Fund, and a $139,000 zero-interest recoverable loan from Invest Appalachia.

The financing moves Renaissance Fiber from years of research and development into commercial production. It provides capital for manufacturing infrastructure, raw material purchases, inventory, and the company’s transition to full-scale operations.

“Getting from a proven process to a working factory is one of the most challenging steps in advanced materials manufacturing,” said Daniel Yohannes, founder and CEO of Renaissance Fiber. “This financing gives us the infrastructure and working capital to process American-grown hemp at commercial scale, using the textile manufacturing base that already exists in North Carolina and across the US.”

Catalytic capital unlocks commercial financing

The Fibers Fund and Invest Appalachia announced their support for Renaissance Fiber in April 2026. Their early commitments helped the company obtain a larger SBA-backed financing package, demonstrating how flexible, first-in capital can unlock conventional financing for manufacturing companies operating in emerging markets.

The $2 million bank package comprises a $1.5 million term loan and $500,000 in revolving credit through the Small Business Administration’s 7(a) Manufacturers Access to Revolving Credit program (MARC), which was recently expanded.

“The Fibers Fund is delighted to support Renaissance Fiber with this new loan,” said Sarah Kelley, Managing Director of the Fibers Fund. “Over the course of our work with them, we’ve been continually impressed by their determination and commitment to community. Renaissance was facing a textbook example of the Commitment Catch-22 we identified when launching the Fibers Fund: buyers seek scaled production before committing to contracts, but textile businesses can’t scale production without capital. Renaissance has the technology, the farmer relationships, and the market interest, and they needed first-in capital that understood their sector and region. We’re proud to provide the catalytic capital to bridge that gap, and we’re especially proud to partner with Invest Appalachia, whose collaborative spirit and exceptional team have made this a truly integrated capital deal.”

“Renaissance Fiber is proving that the transition to a sustainable regional economy can be built on the strength of our own agricultural heritage,” said Andrew Crosson, CEO of Invest Appalachia. “While traditional commercial finance often overlooks the economic potential of domestic textiles, we recognize North Carolina’s rich textile history and see a team with the technical pedigree to bridge a critical gap in the U.S. hemp supply chain. By pairing our Catalytic Capital with Fibers Fund’s lending, we have helped unlock economic opportunity in a growing sector. We hope to see Renaissance Fiber’s sustainable innovation turn into a driver of job creation and long-term economic resilience, while ensuring that farmers in our region are the primary beneficiaries of the burgeoning industrial hemp industry.”

Building a missing link in the domestic textile supply chain

Renaissance Fiber manufactures softened hemp fiber through a proprietary two-step process: it degums raw hemp fiber, then refines it into a material suited for spinning on existing cotton and synthetic-fiber equipment. Historically, hemp fiber processing required specialized infrastructure with limited global capacity. Renaissance Fiber’s process removes that barrier, making hemp compatible with the equipment cotton and wool mills already use.

The company purchases raw fiber from U.S. growers and works with farmers, yarn spinners, textile mills, and product manufacturers. Its Mocksville facility will create a domestic processing link between agricultural production and established textile manufacturing capacity.

“America does not need to rebuild its textile industry from scratch,” Yohannes said. “The farmers, mills, technical expertise, and manufacturing equipment are already here. The missing link has been the infrastructure required to turn domestically grown hemp into a consistent, commercially viable textile input. That is the gap Renaissance Fiber is building to fill.”

Construction on the Mocksville facility is already underway and expected to be completed before the end of 2026, followed by commissioning and optimization.

Posted: October 20, 2026

Source: Renaissance Fiber