ULUU

About

Uluu converts sustainably farmed seaweed into climate-positive, biodegradable polymers that can directly replace conventional plastics.

Mission

Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Perth, Australia, Uluu uses a fermentation process that combines seaweed with microbes to create polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), a family of natural polymers that mimic the performance of fossil-based plastics. The resulting material is strong, lightweight, waterproof, non-toxic, reusable, recyclable, home-compostable and marine-biodegradable, breaking down without releasing microplastics. At scale, the process can sequester and avoid roughly 5 kg of CO₂ equivalent for every kilogram of material produced, compared with the ~3 kg emitted by traditional plastics, giving the technology potential to cut global emissions by more than 2 gigatonnes annually. With 23 employees (up from 13 earlier in the year), the company currently operates a 100 kg-per-year pilot plant and will expand to a 10-tonne-per-year demonstration facility using its new funding. Uluu is already running commercial pilots with brands in cosmetics, fashion and automotive, including Quiksilver, Papinelle and Audi. Future plans include building a commercial-scale plant capable of producing thousands of tonnes of material each year to supply global markets. The company’s innovation was recognized with the 2025 SXSW Innovation Award.

Quick Facts