Sydney’s Hullbot raised $16M to scale its autonomous underwater robots that clean ship hulls, cutting fuel costs by up to 26% and emissions across global fleets.
What’s happening: Sydney ocean robotics company Hullbot has raised $16 million in Series A funding. The startup has also won Australia’s Good Design Award of the Year, beating Tesla, Hyundai and Polestar.
Why this matters: Shipping accounts for around 1 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, and biofouling on ship hulls drives fuel overconsumption by over 20%. Hullbot’s autonomous robots deliver proven fuel savings of up to 26%, addressing one of the world’s hardest-to-abate sectors.
Australian ocean robotics company Hullbot has raised $16 million in a Series A round to scale production capacity, develop larger robotic systems, and establish more international service hubs.
The round was led by Regeneration.VC, with participation from Katapult Ocean, Climate Tech Partners, Folklore Ventures, Trinity Ventures, Rypples, NewSouth Innovations, Artesian, and Impact Ventures/Ocean Impact Collective.
Record funding round
Founded in Sydney, Hullbot designs, builds and deploys autonomous underwater robots that proactively clean and inspect ship hulls. By enabling frequent cleaning, Hullbot delivers proven fuel savings on average of 15% and up to 26%, helping fleets cut operational costs whilst preventing pollution and reducing emissions.
“We are committed to showing how Australian innovation can take on one of the world’s hardest-to-abate sectors,” said Tom Loefler, Founder and CEO of Hullbot. “Hullbot sits at the intersection of shipping efficiency, decarbonisation, and ocean health. This raise allows us to take that impact to the next level.”
Destana Herring, Principal at Regeneration.VC, praised the team’s technical capabilities. “I’m blown away by this team of mariners, roboticists, and software engineers,” Herring said. “This is ingenious technology ripe with commercial proof at a critical inflection point for international maritime. We see a validated multi-billion-dollar opportunity to decarbonise world-leading fleets.”
Design recognition
Hullbot has been awarded the Australian Good Design Award of the Year, the nation’s highest design honour, beating global giants including Tesla, Hyundai and Polestar. In addition to the top award, Hullbot secured Gold and Best in Class Awards for Commercial & Industrial Product Design.
The recognition underscores the company’s industry-leading innovation, scalability and environmental impact as it enters a major growth phase.
Shipping accounts for around 1 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. Even a thin layer of biofouling, marine organisms on vessel hulls, can drive fuel overconsumption by more than 20%.
Hullbot has completed over 1,000 cleans globally across ferry, commercial shipping and fishing operations. The service has cleaned over 82 vessels across the US, EU and APAC. Customers include Sydney Ferries.
Alister Coleman, Partner at Folklore Ventures, highlighted the founder’s unique positioning. “Tom Loefler struck us as someone uniquely placed to address this unsolved problem, alongside the highly technical team he has assembled,” Coleman said. “Folklore is proud to partner with Tom and the Hullbot team, as they continue to see strong traction with major marine customers globally.”
Ross Brooks, General Partner at Katapult Ocean, noted the company’s focused approach. “Hullbot has a unique value proposition which leverages the strengths of its robotics with a laser focus on its customers’ problem,” Brooks said.
Global expansion plans
Hullbot currently operates in the US, Mexico, Europe, Singapore and local markets. With demand for proactive hull cleaning rapidly increasing, the company plans to use the funding to scale manufacturing, strengthen its global service network and expand its next-generation robotic systems to accommodate larger vessel classes.
The expansion positions Hullbot as a key player in shipping’s decarbonisation transition, bringing Australian innovation to one of the world’s most challenging emissions sectors.
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