Australian startup Uluu, which transforms seaweed into a natural alternative to plastic, has raised $10.56 million (AU$16 million) in Series A funding. The company will use the money to scale from its 100-kilogram-per-year pilot facility to a 10-ton-per-year demonstration plant in Western Australia.
Uluu said its production process combines seaweed with fermentation—similar to brewing beer—to create natural polymers called PHAs. Its materials perform like conventional plastics and can be processed using existing plastic manufacturing equipment. They are reusable, recyclable, home compostable and marine biodegradable—breaking down naturally without releasing microplastics. The company said their plastics are strong, lightweight, waterproof and non-toxic.
“Seaweed grows quickly and gets everything it need from the sun and the sea,” said Uluu Co-Founder and Co-CEO Dr Julia Reisser. “It locks away CO2 and helps clean up pollutants from the ocean. “By harnessing seaweed, Uluu is producing materials that have a positive, rather than negative, impact on the environment, while ending plastic pollution.”
At commercial scale, Uluu said, its production process has scope to sequester and avoid up to 5 kilograms of CO₂ equivalent for every 1kg of material produced and could theoretically reduce global CO₂ emissions by more than 2 gigatons per year.
“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. “The demonstration plant is a critical step in showing Uluu can scale to truly compete with and replace fossil plastics.”
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.
“At BPI, we invest in companies driving transformative innovation with the potential to become a global category leader,” said Christian Teichmann, CEO of Burda Principal Investments. “Having first invested in Uluu in 2023, we’re excited to further deepen our partnership as the company scales its pioneering technology.”
