ReGen 🤝 Ulysses
ReGen partners with Ulysses to rewild the ocean.
ReGen Ventures is thrilled to announce our participation in Ulysses Ecosystem Engineering’s $2.0M Pre-Seed round alongside Lowercarbon Capital and Superorganism. Ulysses is on a game-changing mission to rewild the ocean and capture gigatons of carbon by deploying advanced technologies to restore marine ecosystems.
Seagrass is just the beginning—by pioneering affordable, scalable, and autonomous robotics to restore ocean habitats, Ulysses is set to redefine what’s possible for the future of our oceans.
Why it matters:
Seagrass meadows are essential blue carbon sinks. They’re the secret weapon of carbon removal — sequestering carbon permanently in marine sediment, at rates up to 35 times more efficiently than rainforests. But these ecosystems are declining, and traditional restoration methods can’t keep up with the scale required. It can take a team of human divers one year to restore a couple of hectares; whereas Ulysses is aiming to do that in one day.
These ecosystems provide more than just carbon sequestration—A single hectare can support 80,000 fish and 100 million small invertebrates, protect coastlines from erosion, and improve water quality. The cumulative value of these services is estimated in the trillions of dollars globally.
With the voluntary carbon market expected to reach $50 billion by 2030, the demand for scalable, verifiable blue carbon solutions is growing rapidly. But the cost and labor limitations of current restoration methods limit impact and fail to match the urgent demand. Nature-powered CDR approaches like Ulysses’ combine the efficiency of technology with natural biogeochemical processes to capture and store carbon; in doing so, they tackle interconnected challenges across ecological and human systems. Nature-powered CDR promotes a balanced and thriving Earth by removing carbon from the atmosphere, restoring the balance between fast and slow carbon cycles, regenerating ecosystems, supporting biodiversity, and enhancing planetary resilience.
Enter Ulysses
Ulysses’s unique insight lies in understanding that scaling marine restoration requires a shift from manual, costly processes to high-tech, autonomous systems. Employing the power of robotics and automation, the team is unlocking a new scale and efficiency in restoring ecosystems like seagrass meadows. Ulysses has developed low-cost marine drones that reduce restoration costs by 10x while allowing projects to scale up to 100x larger and faster.
By restoring these critical ecosystems at scale, Ulysses’s platform generates multi-layered ecological and economic value, creating benefits that ripple across climate resilience, ocean health, and coastal economies. New laws like the EU’s Nature Restoration Law now mandate large-scale ecosystem recovery, creating unprecedented demand for scalable, practical solutions. And as the market grows for large-scale, verifiable carbon sequestration and nature restoration solutions, Ulysses has harnessed an inflection point in technologies, redefining what’s possible in ocean restoration and blue carbon.
Progress Since Fundraising:
Since founding in 2023, Ulysses has made significant strides in advancing its technology and expanding its market reach. In less than a year, Ulysses has successfully completed trials with the University of Western Australia, validating their autonomous drone technology for large-scale seagrass restoration.
Additionally, Ulysses has secured nearly $1M in revenue through partnerships with government agencies and conservation organisations, including projects with The Nature Conservancy and agencies in Florida and Australia. These partnerships have catalysed new restoration projects, including “Gigameadow One” in Western Australia, which is poised to become one of the largest seagrass restoration initiatives globally.
Through these projects, Ulysses is not only showcasing the capabilities of its technology but also laying the groundwork for a robust market presence in the blue carbon space, tapping into the growing demand for high-quality, verifiable carbon credits.
The Team
We are thrilled to be partnered with Ulysses founders Akhil Voorakkara, Colm O’Brien, Jamie Wedderburn, and Will O’Brien. Based in San Francisco, the Ulysses team brings together engineering talent with experience across a spectrum of advanced technologies. They have previously built championship-winning Formula 1 cars with Red Bull Racing, designed delivery drones with Manna, launched satellites with Spire, and contributed to hyperloop and self-driving car technologies. The unique expertise in high-performance engineering, automation, and precision control has enabled Ulysses to develop a cutting-edge platform that will allow our oceans to reclaim their role as powerful carbon sinks and vibrant ecosystems brimming with biodiversity.
You can read more about Ulysses in their TechCrunch feature, and see open roles here.
Nice and necessary tech, but you might be slightly optimistic about the VCM......