Australian ocean robotics company Hullbot has raised AUD $16 million in a Series A round 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, to grow production capacity, evolve larger robotic systems, and establish more international service hubs.
Hullbot has been awarded the Australian Good Design Award of the Year—the nation’s highest design honour—beating global giants such as Tesla, Hyundai, and Polestar. In addition to the top award, Hullbot secured Gold and Best in Class Awards for Commercial & Industrial Product Design, underscoring its industry-leading innovation, scalability, and environmental impact.
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 15% and up to 26%. This helps fleets cut operational costs while preventing pollution and reducing emissions. Hullbot’s service has cleaned over 82 vessels across the US, EU, and APAC.
“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.”
Shipping accounts for around 1 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions every year, and even a thin layer of biofouling (marine organisms on vessel hulls) on a ship’s hull can drive fuel overconsumption by more than 20%.
Alister Coleman, Partner at Folklore Ventures, said: “Tom Loefler struck us as someone uniquely placed to address this unsolved problem, alongside the highly technical team he has assembled. Folklore is proud to partner with Tom and the Hullbot team, as they continue to see strong traction with major marine customers globally.”
“I’m blown away by this team of mariners, roboticists, and software engineers,” shared Destana Herring, Principal at Regeneration.VC. “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.”
Hullbot has already completed over 1,000 cleans globally, across ferry, commercial shipping and fishing operations. Customers include Sydney’s own Sydney Ferries. Currently, Hullbot has established operations in the US, Mexico, Europe, Singapore, and local markets.
“Hullbot has a unique value proposition which leverages the strengths of its robotics with a laser focus on its customers’ problem,” said Ross Brooks, General Partner at Katapult Ocean.
With demand for proactive hull cleaning rapidly increasing, Hullbot is now entering a major growth phase. The company plans to use the proceeds of this financial growth to scale manufacturing, strengthen its global service network, and expand its next-generation robotic systems to accommodate larger vessel classes, positioning Hullbot as a key player in shipping’s decarbonisation transition.
For more information visit www.hullbot.com.
