Macro Oceans

Macro Oceans is a seaweed (kelp) biotechnology company that converts farmed macroalgae into low-carbon chemicals, bioactives and materials intended to replace petroleum-derived and land-crop-derived inputs. Its commercial focus is two-fold: beauty ingredients marketed as high-performance, low-carbon and 100% traceable, and alginate-based texture solutions for food. The company positions kelp as an industrial feedstock that requires no fresh water, fertilizer or pesticides and does not compete with land-based food crops, and describes broader applicability to biopolymers, pharmaceuticals, sugars and proteins.

Its first commercial product is Big Kelp Hydration, a purified polysaccharide skincare ingredient used by beauty brands including Captain Blankenship and SeaSoaked Skin, with additional brand programs referenced with Umanos and Project Reef. A commissioned MS Clinical Research study on the ingredient reported an 80% immediate increase in hydration and a 26% immediate improvement in skin barrier. In June 2025 the company introduced Big Kelp Flex, described as a low-viscosity suspension ingredient. Following the October 2024 acquisition of Everything Seaweed, the product suite also includes PFAS-free coatings for food packaging and polyacrylate-alternative texturizers for skincare.

The company operates a refinery process on kelp sourced from two farms in Alaska, grown on floating lines from the fall and harvested in May or June. Extracted polysaccharides are purified and sold to contract manufacturers that formulate finished beauty products. Batch-level traceability from farm to factory is a stated selling point, and a life cycle analysis was planned to quantify environmental impact.

Founding story

Macro Oceans was established in 2020 by Matthew Perkins, a former British diplomat who previously worked at agriculture startups, sold his earlier agtech company Yield Pop to the Climate Corporation and was the first business hire at Inari Agriculture. Perkins framed the founding thesis around seaweed as a bountiful, scalable resource requiring no fertilizer, pesticides or fresh water and not competing with land crops, with beauty chosen as the entry market because it demands high-performance sustainable materials. Founding engineer Mohammad Tajparast had previously prototyped macroalgae biorefining projects at Google X.

Business model

Macro Oceans sells refined seaweed-derived ingredients business-to-business rather than finished consumer products; management has said it deliberately chose not to launch its own beauty brand because doing so requires a different skill set. Purified extracts are supplied to contract manufacturers that formulate for beauty brands, and food-grade alginate ingredients are taken to market through distribution and ingredient-partner arrangements, including a strategic partnership with Socius Ingredients for the US food market.

Revenue comes from the sale of ingredient volumes at published per-kilogram pricing; Big Kelp Hydration pricing starts at $169 per kilogram. Management stated in October 2024 that the company has positive unit economics and is on a path to profitability, while declining to disclose sales or growth rates.

Traction

As of October 2024 the company had one ingredient on the market, Big Kelp Hydration, adopted by brands including Captain Blankenship and SeaSoaked Skin, with further brand launches described as forthcoming; it reported positive unit economics. Subsequent milestones include the Everything Seaweed acquisition, new distributors and heat-stability and kelp-pot product developments reported in early 2025, the Big Kelp Flex launch in June 2025, and the Socius Ingredients food-market partnership in July 2025.

Latest developments

Recent activity includes the June 2025 launch of Big Kelp Flex, a low-viscosity suspension ingredient; a July 2025 strategic partnership with Socius Ingredients to supply sustainable alginates to the US food market; and a series of technical publications for beauty formulators through early 2026 addressing European Commission Regulation 2023/2055 on microplastics, carbomer replacement and natural polymer performance.