Australian enviro-tech firm Samsara Eco has scored a $100 million funding raise, which will go towards future scaling plans to eliminate plastic waste, including the upgrading of its enzymatic recycling capabilities in the textile space.
The funding was led by global investment company Temasek and Australian deep tech investment fund Main Sequence, as well as a cohort of new and existing backers including Lululemon, Wollemi Capital, Hitachi Ventures, Titanium Ventures (formerly Telstra Ventures) and DCVC.
Samsara confirmed the capital will go towards building new commercial facilities in South East Asia over the next few years.
The facilities will recycle millions of tonnes of plastic waste like discarded textiles and packaging, to produce tens of thousands of tonnes of monomers - the molecular building blocks of plastics - which will then be turned into brand-new products.
The company will also scale up its global team of chemists, engineers and technicians, as well as increase its library of plastic-eating enzymes.
"Plastics have been an environmental disaster with almost every piece of the 9 billion tonnes ever made still on the planet,” Samsara Eco founder and CEO Paul Riley said. “But almost all plastic is reusable and recyclable with the right technology.
“We’re on a mission to end plastic waste and with it, repair our climate.”
Riley said the ability to infinitely recycle plastic in an environmentally friendly way is a game changer for brands and the planet.
“Our enzymatic recycling technology makes it easy for brands in almost every industry to meet their sustainability and decarbonisation goals by creating a circular loop for plastics.
“We’ve already made significant traction in the textile space but this is just the beginning.”
Since launching in 2020, Samsara Eco has discovered the ability to recycle plastics including nylon 6,6 and polyester. Earlier this year, in partnership with its first textile partner, Samsara Eco unveiled the world’s first enzymatically recycled nylon 6,6 product and also helped to introduce Lululemon’s first product made from enzymatically recycled polyester.
Samsara Eco’s patented recycling technology EosEco uses a combination of biophysics, chemistry, biology and computer science - including artificial intelligence - to create a family of plastic-eating enzymes. The enzymes break down plastic waste, such as textiles made from nylon and polyester, into raw materials, which are then integrated into existing manufacturing processes to make new products.
"We’re creating a first-of-its-kind infinite recycling process that is genuinely better for our planet,” Riley said. “EosEco reduces the end-to-end recycling time, while also operating at a lower temperature and pressure to ultimately reduce waste and carbon emissions.
“By solving the circularity piece of the puzzle for all plastics, we’re making it possible to imagine a more sustainable future.”
Main Sequence partner Phil Morle said Samsara shows how science can deliver a solution to world problems.
“In this case, the accumulation of plastic waste and the continued need to produce new plastics from fossil fuels,” he said. “Deep tech venture capital fuels this science with a rapid path to market, helping accelerate impactful change in the world.
“We are steadfast believers in this mission and Samsara Eco. The team are already making significant strides to eliminate textile waste and will be vital to creating a more sustainable future. We are proud to back the company again as it continues to scale."
The latest funding builds upon Samsara Eco’s $56 million raised in its Series A round in 2022. The company’s first facility continues to operate out of Mitchell in the Australian Capital Territory, with construction of Samsara Eco’s new innovation campus in Jerrabomberra, NSW currently underway.