Functional Ingredients
for a Changing World

GreenWave's Kelp CoLab is for forward-thinking brands that want to lead the way in sustainable innovation. The application process is focused on inviting beauty and personal care brands to join as Cohort Members. These brands will collaborate across the value chain to explore tailored kelp-based ingredients and formulations that align with consumer demand for function and sustainability.

Here is a look at the diverse ecosystem of collaborates that CoLab brings together:

• Beauty and Personal Care Brands are at the center of CoLab. As Cohort Members, they align on key technical challenges and work directly with formulation R&D experts and ingredient suppliers in an iterative innovation process.

• Established Multinational Companies serve as Anchor Partners for the technical challenges CoLab will solve. They generate hypotheses, define success criteria, and ensure that technical solutions map to viable business cases.

• Ingredient Suppliers tailor ingredient R&D to the specifications from the Cohort Members. They lead ingredient R&D, share insights on feasibility and scalability, and ultimately have the opportunity to manufacture kelp-based ingredient solutions developed through this program.

• The Expert Bench includes a select group of technical advisors and R&D specialists who guide CoLab’s innovation strategy and lead the hands-on ingredient and formulation development work. They collaborate closely with Ingredient Suppliers and Cohort Members to shape feasible, high-impact solutions.

Kelp CoLab offers a unique opportunity to push the boundaries of formulation innovation—without the risk or resource load of going it alone. Participating brands gain access to fully funded product development and formulation support aligned with both sustainability and performance goals. Whether you're looking to explore the potential of kelp-derived bioactives, future-proof your ingredient sourcing, or connect with others working at the cutting edge of beauty innovation, Kelp CoLab offers a path forward.

Cohort Members in Kelp CoLab will be able to:

• Gain a Competitive Edge: Catalyze next-generation solutions to address your performance, texture, and sustainability needs. Ingredient R&D is shaped to meet your specifications, resulting in a custom, pilot-ready solution.

• De-Risk Innovation: Access fully funded formulation R&D with leading experts to overcome technical hurdles, increasing the odds of success.

• Future-Proof Supply Chains: Gain visibility into emerging technologies and next generation ingredients.

• Connect & Collaborate: Forge tangible partnerships with industry leaders and disruptors.

Kelp is one of the fastest-growing and most sustainable crops on earth. It’s also a powerful ingredient for beauty and personal care innovation. It offers:

• Deep hydration

• Anti-inflammation 

• Skin-barrier support

• Superior suspension

• Rheology performance 

• Sustainability and traceability

Regeneratively ocean farmed kelp requires zero inputs—the ocean provides everything, with no need for freshwater, arable land, fertilizer, or pesticides. While kelp is in the water it is delivers environmental benefits such as absorbing nitrogen and carbon dioxide and increasing biodiversity.

The application period will open on August 25 and close on October 6, 2025. Selected companies will be notified of acceptance by December 2025, with the program kicking off in January 2026 and concluding in October 2026.

By the end of the program, Cohort Members will have developed a kelp-based formulation for use in high-performing, sustainable personal care products. These formulations will showcase how kelp-derived bioactives and ingredients can deliver meaningful consumer benefits—such as hydration, calming effects, or improved texture—while advancing innovation in line with the growing ocean-forward beauty movement.

GreenWave is a North American nonprofit dedicated to building and supporting the regenerative ocean farming (ROF) movement. Since 2014, we’ve helped scale ocean-farmed seaweed as a climate solution—producing high-yield, low-impact crops that offer a renewable, local supply ready to grow with demand.

Our work has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Fast Company, TIME, and 200+ other articles, documentaries, and podcasts spotlighting how ocean-farmed kelp can help reshape supply chains across food, fashion, and beauty.

In many coastal communities, seaweed farming is expanding—repurposing boats, docks, and local expertise to build the next generation of ocean-based livelihoods.

We believe the beauty and personal care sector has a unique opportunity to shape how ocean-farmed ingredients enter the market—driving demand, setting standards, and telling a new kind of ingredient story rooted in performance, planet, and long-term value. That’s why we created Kelp CoLab: to help brands lead this shift, bridging the gap between ingredient innovation and real-world application to create ocean-powered products that perform.