Bioplastics business Uluu completes $16 million Series A

Perth startup Uluu, which has developed a process to create bioplastics out of fermented seaweed, has announced a $16 million Series A funding round, led by Germany’s Burda Principal Investments.

According to a statement on Thursday from the company, the raise will support construction of a demonstration plant and scaling up its technology, which “has scope to sequester and avoid up to ~5 [kilograms of] CO₂ equivalent for every [kilogram] of material produced”.

It plans to go from a current 100 kilogram per year pilot facility to a 10 tonne per annum demonstration plant, capable of delivering commercial volumes to customers. It names global partners including 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.

“The demonstration plant is a critical step in showing Uluu can scale to truly compete with and replace fossil plastics.”

Other backers in the round include Main Sequence, Novel Investments and Startmate.

Uluu says its PHA materials are a drop-in substitute, which perform like conventional resins on existing equipment, but are also “reusable, recyclable, home compostable and marine biodegradable” as well as waterproof and non-toxic.

Co-founder and co-CEO Dr Julia Reisser said seaweed was among the most sustainable resources on Earth, and both sequesters carbon dioxide and helps clean pollutants from the ocean.

“Seaweed grows quickly and gets everything it needs from the sun and the sea,” she said.

“By harnessing seaweed, Uluu is producing materials that have a positive, rather than negative, impact on the environment, while ending plastic pollution.”

Picture: Founders Reisser and Kingsbury (supplied)

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