Samsara Eco proprietary technology uses enzymes to disaggregate plastic waste into raw materials, which can eventually be transformed into the foundation for new products.
Samsara Eco, an Australian environmental tech startup, has attracted about US$65 million in its latest Series A+ funding round from backers, including Singapore state investment company Temasek, Hitachi’s venture capital arm, and yoga-wear brand Lululemon.
DCVC, Titanium Ventures, Main Sequence Ventures, and Wollemi also participated in the funding round. The eco startup’s total aggregated funding currently exceeds $107 million.
Founded in 2020, Samsara Eco was recognised with InnovationAus.com’s top award in 2022. The startup has developed EosEco, a patented technology that creates special plastic-eating enzymes – proteins that help speed up chemical reactions.
Namely, EosEco enzymes can recycle plastic waste repeatedly. These microscopic organisms break down plastics into their original building blocks, monomers. They can be used to make new plastics of the same quality, creating an infinite recycling circle. The types of complex plastics (polymers) suitable for such a natural recycling range from a typical PET bottle to textiles made from nylon and polyester.
Besides lavish funding, this unique technology recently brought Samsara Eco a collaboration with Lululemon. Together, the two firms unveiled a sustainable jacket – the world’s first enzymatically recycled nylon 6,6 product, indicating a significant innovation in sustainable fashion materials.
With fresh funds, Samsara Eco will propel the construction of new commercial plastic recycling facilities in Southeast Asia. These facilities, which will be built in the next few years, will presumably recycle millions of tonnes of plastic waste, including discarded textiles and packaging, to be turned into brand-new products.
Investments will also enable the startup to grow its global research and development team and expand its offering of plastic-eating enzymes. Samsara Eco plans to significantly scale its technologies so that they can “infinitely recycle” all forms of plastics for most industries, e.g. the automotive, electronics and consumer packaged goods sectors.
