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Ulysses is using robots to restore seagrass populations
- Ulysses Ecosystem Engineering, a San Francisco-based startup, is using robots to restore seagrass populations.
- The robot can plant seagrass seeds in specific areas of the ocean floor, and has accelerated the restoration process by 100x compared to manual methods.
- The company was founded in 2023, after CEO Akhil Voorakkara heard of a group of volunteers having a difficult time planting seagrass. Through building a robot to do the job, the team has since earned nearly $1m in revenue from private companies and government organisations.
- Ulysses now aims to further expand the robot's capabilities, with tests starting this month around seed harvesting from approved seagrass beds.
- The company recently announced a $2m pre-seed funding round, led by Lowercarbon Capital, to add to its current team of five engineers.
- Ulysses plans to move beyond seagrass restoration, using autonomous robots connected to a central platform for coastal management, security and other restoration projects.
- The company's timing is good, as many governments are increasingly putting emphasis and urgency on restoring seagrass meadows.
- Terradepth and Eelume are other large companies operating in similar spaces, using underwater robots to map the ocean floor and focus on ocean discovery, respectively.
- Ulysses hopes to manage hundreds of kilometres of coastline and empower groups such as NOAA in the next five years.
- This would bring innovation and technology to an 'extremely difficult domain' where 'there is not a lot of novel technological solutions', said co-founder Will O'Brien.
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