9 December 2025
Niki de Schryver from COSH!: Fast fashion harms circular goals
- Greenwashing
- Press
An unexpected award.
Winning the imec.istart Impact Award was something I did not expect. All the start-ups from the Imec.istart network do incredible work and each make impact in their own way. When I heard them declare COSH! As the winner of the impact category award and we were called on stage, my first thought was: “I should have prepared a speech.”
But as I walked on stage, I realised what this moment truly meant. After six years of building COSH! with relentless energy, this award feels like recognition for the tireless work, the countless late nights, and the unwavering belief that change is possible, even when the odds are against you.
Building a company that works on system change, supports small SME retailers and fashion brands, and operates across several layers of the circular economy was never going to be easy. Early on, people at imec (not imec.istart) and Start it @KBC told me frankly: “She will never make it. The model is too complex. It connects too many layers.”
Yet here we are, active in three countries, while many other startups have disappeared.
We’ve proven that it is possible to build smart city dashboards that measure the communication impact of city marketing, track the opening and closing of stores, and evaluate how local sustainability ecosystems grow through our work.
I should have prepared a speech. Niki de Schryver
A not so smooth journey.
In 2023, when we didn’t complete a funding round, I (we) had to navigate the financial challenges alone. It made us stronger. Today, we are fully funded by our clients and projects, and while we are still paying off earlier loans, we are growing on our own terms, without external investors.
Over the years the biggest challenge was learning to say goodbye. People come and go, but all of them contributed to the impact we have made. And through it all, I have been supported by my children and my partner, while working nearly seven days a week to bring this vision of COSH! to life.
There were moments of doubt, but never a moment of giving up. When emotional or moody I have one rule. “Fuck the mood, stick to the plan”.
Because deep down, I knew this was the only way forward: not simplifying it too much, but work on all layers at the same time.
We cannot solve the circular economy on the production side alone.
If we want real change, we must work on the demand side as well with consumers, while empowering cities to support the transition of their small businesses. And to make a real dent, we need to scale beyond Belgium.
Fuck the mood, stick to the plan Niki de Schryver
There’s no impact without data
With this award, I also realise: Impact, I’ve learned, is only rewarded when it can be measured.
Being able to monitor our actions and results through dashboards ‑for both the retailers we serve and the cities we collaborate with– is a pivotal step for COSH!. It gives visibility to the invisible work of system change.
Along the way, I’ve been supported by our VAM Tim Rootsaert, by Sven De Cleyn, by mentors like @startit@KBC, Piet Verhoeve, Anne Sophie Heysen, Valerie Morel via Noa, Michael De Decker via Impact Shakers, Mimi Lamote, Beyond and Karine Van den Berghe, and by our early investors. And just as importantly, by those who now, still after several years walk, this path with me every day: Wieke, Silke and Ethan, the core team who believe in this journey and who strive together for impact.
Role models in the circular economy, fashion, and female entrepreneurs
To all other founders working in the circular economy, especially in fashion:
I wish you resilience and to step with ambition but equally prudence. This field needs role models who do not let go, who keep pursuing their passion to build a better world.
And to all future female founders:
We are still underfunded and too often underestimated. Many men struggle to recognise the problems we solve because they experience the world differently then we do, yet women make up 50% of the consumer market. Showing that women can have the same strong will, the same persistence, and that we do not quietly return to running households but go the extra mile to make things succeed, is crucial. If my journey can help inspire even one more woman to step forward, then it has been worth it.
This award is not the finish line. It is proof that what we are building matters, and that we are just getting started.
With new regulations like the EPR ahead, we see opportunities to accelerate the fashion sector towards a more sustainable, ethical and resilient future.
We will build and support the change. Even in difficult market conditions.
