1. DGrade
Kris Barber – Founder/ CEO
Tel ++971 555498763
E mail info@dgrade.com
We make great clothes from plastic bottles!

2. The problem
• The U.A.E has the highest consumption of
bottled water per capita in the world.
• 1.5 Billion plastic bottles produced in the
U.A.E. alone in 2010.
• Millions of tons of PET ends up in landfill or
in the desert and on the beaches. Hundreds
of camels and thousands of marine life
creatures are dying every year through
ingesting plastic waste.
• We work with organisations that recover
plastic waste from beaches and from the
desert and use this local waste in our supply
chain
• As well as taking feedstock from recyclers we
also help and implement beach and desert
clean -up campaigns with local schools and
colleges.
• We tour the region and deliver educational
programs to raise awareness about Plastic
pollution and how we make fabrics through
our recycling process.
• We set a Plastic Challenge to local schools to
see who could collect the most plastic and
then took the plastic collected into our
supply chain.

3. The solution.
• We use post consumer plastic bottles
in the production of our yarns and
fabrics and have partnered with a
U.K. company that currently produce
the yarns in China in order to develop
the supply chain in the Middle East.
• Plastic bottles are chopped into
flakes, heated and extruded into fibre
and then spun and knitted into fabric.
• It takes 3 plastic bottles blended with
cotton to make a T shirt. Our shorts
are 100% recycled PET – there are 30
bottles in every pair of shorts.
• Our fabrics are more stable, better
quality and last longer than
conventional cotton material.
• So far our production has saved over
2 million plastic bottles going to
landfill.

4. Commercial feasibility
• Dgrade offer a complete design and
manufacturing service made using
recycled fabrics from plastic bottles
• Our current supply chain is in China
and Pakistan. We are now developing
our own plant in the U.A.E. using
local waste, our ultimate goal is to
have the worlds first closed loop
manufacturing system.
• We produce merchandise for
corporate uniforms and
promotional / events companies. We
also produce and wholesale our own
recycled brands. DIRTBALL and
SPIKED.
• We encourage our customers to
recycle their plastic and where
feasible take the raw material into
our supply chain.

5. Our process
Discarded plastic bottles Washed and flaked…then
heated and extruded into
fibre…
Separated and bundled Then spun into yarn

6. Marketing and Sales
strategy
• Producing merchandise for
events companies and managing
the recovery of plastic for our
supply chain
• Digital marketing and virals.
• Sponsored extreme sports
athletes wearing our products
• Educational initiatives to explain
the causes and what can be done
to reduce plastic use.
• PR in National and international
press and media
• Online social media partnerships
• Online links and exchanges with
customers
• B2b events

7. Competitors
• Some fashion companies are
already producing elements of
their collections using PET
fabrics. However with access
to over 160 different fabrics,
we are the only company that
offers a manufacturing service
to corporate businesses and
brands.
• We have a portfolio of
designers that can produce a
variety of bespoke product for
our customers by contract
manufacturing using our
recycled fabrics.

8. Who are we?
• Kris Barber – Founder/ CEO – 25 yrs experience in manufacturing
and production for UK Brands and High St Retailers
• Liam Knowles (Partner) 8 yrs as yarn developer for Greenpac
• Ashley Barwick – Sales and Marketing – Internet and digital media
guru, past work includes Album covers for Coldplay, brochures for
London Underground and British Museum.
• James Dyer – Sales (UK) Previously recycling co ordinator at Leeds
and Reading Pop Festivals with a full understanding of recycling
processes.
• Iqubal Ghallaf – Supply Chain manager – established our supply
chain in Pakistan.
• Faisal Iqubal – Production controller and QC

9. Financials
SALES FORECASTS AND PROJECTIONS
• Currently we have over 50 companies •Sales yr 1 – $1.2m
that have requested quotations and/ or
samples. We work on a conversion rate •Sales yr 3 – $3.6m
of 20% but hope this will improve as
our costs reduce through local
production. By Year 5 we would •Sales yr 5 - $10.5m
anticipate having over 100 regular
customers.
• We are looking to raise a total of
$650,000 for working capital and to
ease cashflow for Dgrade. A proportion
of this to be raised through equity sale.
Up to now the business has been self
funded and is profitable.
• We are not looking to raise funding for
the manufacturing process itself as this
is already being covered through
private equity funding. The factory will
be established during the next 12
months and Dgrade will be
shareholders in the plant.

10. Sustainability
• Compared to Manufacturing polyester from scratch:
• 20% less Water
• 50% less energy
• 55% fewer carbon emissions
• We do not use Oil!

11. Current status
• Dgrade has been trading since Oct
2010 and is now profitable and
working with some of the worlds
largest brands and businesses.
• We are already on target to meet our
sales forecast of $1.2m in 2013.
• We won SME Green Business of the
Year in 2012.
• We have helped save tons of plastic
going to landfill!
• Our project has the support of the
‘Green Sheikh’ His Highness Abdul
Aziz al Nuaimi.
• If we win $50,000 it will give us
funding for a local showroom/ office,
to employ key staff and to do some
good by recycling even more plastic
waste!