Samsara Eco, an Australian enviro-tech company that seeks to end plastic pollution, has raised $65 million in its Series A+ funding round backed by Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings and deeptech investor Main Sequence Ventures.
New and existing investors, including Wollemi Capital, lululemon, Hitachi Ventures, Titanium Ventures, and DCVC, also participated in the funding round, per the announcement.
Samsara raised about $34.7 million in November 2022 in its Series A funding round, also backed by Temasek. It also raised $6 million from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Woolworth’s venture capital fund W23, and CSIRO’s Main Sequence Ventures.
Launched in 2020, Samsara Eco seeks to eliminate plastic waste through infinite recycling. The startup has developed a new way to break plastic down to its core molecules, which can then be used to recreate brand-new plastic all over again.
The fresh funding will be used to scale the company’s recycling capabilities, with new commercial facilities to be built in Southeast Asia in the next few years.
Samsara Eco said the facilities will have the capacity to recycle millions of tonnes of plastic waste, such as discarded textiles and packaging, to create brand-new products.
Paul Riley, CEO and founder of Samsara Eco, said almost all plastic is reusable and recyclable with the right technology.
“The ability to infinitely recycle plastic in an environmentally friendly way is a game changer for brands and our planet… we’ve already made significant traction in the textile space but this is just the beginning,” Riley stressed.
Through its first textile partner, Samsara Eco unveiled the world’s first enzymatically recycled nylon 6,6 product early this year. It also helped to introduce lululemon’s first product made from enzymatically recycled polyester.
The startup plans to scale its technologies to infinitely recycle all forms of plastics, which can be used within existing cross-sector supply chains like in automotive, electronics, and consumer packaged goods.
The infinite recycling process, dubbed EosEco, reduces the end-to-end recycling time, while also operating at a lower temperature and pressure to ultimately reduce waste and carbon emissions, Samsara Eco said.
Temasek, the co-lead investor in Samsara’s funding round, had a net portfolio value of about $287 billion as of March 31, 2023. It has 13 offices in nine countries around the world.
In April, Decarbonization Partners, a joint venture between Temasek and BlackRock, announced the final close of its inaugural late-stage venture capital and growth private equity investment fund at $1.4 billion, exceeding its target of $1 billion.
The vehicle is focused on investing in next–generation private companies that support the acceleration of decarbonisation and the transition to a net–zero economy.
