Uluu has raised AU$16 million in Series A funding to build a demonstration plant and scale its technology transforming seaweed into a natural alternative to plastic to industrial production.
The round was led by German growth investor Burda Principal Investments with support from Main Sequence, Novel Investments (the family office of one of the world’s largest textile groups), Startmate, and a consortium of leading impact and family investors including Fairground and Trinity Ventures.
Uluu’s next-generation materials perform like conventional plastics and can be processed using existing plastic manufacturing equipment.
Unlike plastic made from fossil fuels, they are reusable, recyclable, home compostable and marine biodegradable—breaking down naturally without releasing microplastics. They’re strong, lightweight, waterproof and non-toxic, while being climate positive at scale.
At commercial scale, Uluu’s production process has scope to sequester and avoid up to ~5kg CO₂ equivalent for every 1kg of material produced, compared with ~3kg emitted by plastic today. The technology has the potential to reduce global CO₂ emissions by more than 2 gigatonnes per year.
With the Series A raise, Uluu will scale from its 100kg/year pilot facility to a 10-tonne/year demonstration plant in Western Australia, enabling the company to deliver commercial volumes to customers.
Uluu is already collaborating with a range of global partners in cosmetics, fashion and the automotive industry, including public campaigns with Quiksilver, Papinelle and Audi.
“After four years’ work developing this technology, including two years’ running our pilot plant, we’re excited to take this next step and start delivering meaningful volumes of our materials to customers,” said Uluu co-founder and co-CEO Michael Kingsbury.
Discover the latest trends and insights—explore the Business Insights Journal for up-to-date strategies and industry breakthroughs!
