Sydney ocean robotics company Hullbot has raised a $16 million Series A led by US climate fund Regeneration.VC to scale its autonomous robots that clean and inspect ship hulls in the water, Business News Australia reported in November 2025.
The problem Hullbot targets is biofouling: the slime, algae and eventually barnacles that build up on a hull below the waterline. That growth creates drag, so engines work harder and vessels burn more fuel. According to Business News Australia, even a thin layer of biofouling can lift fuel consumption by more than 20 per cent. The traditional fix is to haul a vessel out of the water, blast the hull and repaint it, which is slow and costly, so operators tend to put it off and absorb the extra fuel bill in the meantime.
How it works
Hullbot’s small robots attach to a hull and navigate it autonomously using cameras and AI. Rather than waiting for heavy growth, the approach is to clean little and often so slime never has the chance to become barnacles, removing the need to dry dock a vessel for cleaning.
The company reports average fuel savings of about 15 per cent, and up to 26 per cent. It has completed more than 1,000 cleans across ferries, commercial shipping and fishing operations, and says its work has avoided more than 3,600 tonnes of carbon. Customers include Sydney Ferries and NRMA Marine, and it operates in Australia, the US, Mexico, Europe and Singapore.
The founders
Hullbot was founded in 2015 by chief executive Tom Loefler and Karl Watfern, with backing from UNSW’s commercialisation arm NewSouth Innovations. “Hullbot sits at the intersection of shipping efficiency, decarbonisation, and ocean health,” Loefler told Business News Australia.
The raise
Alongside Regeneration.VC, the round included Katapult Ocean, Climate Tech Partners, Folklore Ventures, Trinity Ventures, Rypples, NewSouth Innovations, Artesian and Impact Ventures/Ocean Impact Collective. Hullbot said it would use the money to expand production, build larger robots for bigger vessels and open more international service hubs.
The company also won the 2025 Australian Good Design Award of the Year.
The market
Shipping produces about one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, according to figures cited by Business News Australia, and it is widely regarded as one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise. Cleaner hulls do not replace new fuels or engines, but they reduce emissions from the existing fleet immediately.
Jack’s take
I like how unglamorous this is. Most climate tech pitches ask the world to wait for a new fuel or a new ship, while Hullbot just keeps the bottom of the boat clean and cuts the fuel bill now. A Sydney team proving it on the ferries first is the right way to earn the global rollout.