Mako (https://mako.aero), a Sydney-based developer of Flightfilm™, a biomimetic adhesive film inspired by shark skin that reduces aircraft drag by up to 4%, has raised AU$28 million in Series A funding led by Virescent Ventures, with participation from IAGi Ventures, Zero Infinity Partners, Grok Ventures, Skip Capital, IP Group, and TreeArc Investment Group. The film can be applied to existing aircraft during routine maintenance checks without structural modifications. The capital will scale manufacturing, complete A320 certification, and deliver on pre-orders.
Fuel Crisis Drives Retrofit Demand
The timing aligns with spiking jet fuel prices due to the Strait of Hormuz crisis, which have doubled since February 2026. Mako positions Flightfilm as a hedge against volatility. Lufthansa Technik's AeroSHARK, the closest commercial product, delivers only about 1% fuel savings on Boeing 777s after 337,000 flight hours. Mako claims roughly four times that performance on tested platforms.
Drag Reduction Cuts Fuel and Emissions
An A320 equipped with Flightfilm saves approximately 100,000 gallons of fuel per year, or US$330,000, while avoiding about 1,000 tonnes of CO2. The technology weighs 60-80 kg on narrow-body aircraft and installs during scheduled C or D checks. Current solutions either carry a green premium or fail to deliver meaningful savings on the existing fleet of roughly 30,000 aircraft.
Film Outperforms Paint-Embedded Rivals
Mako's pre-fabricated Flightfilm applies over existing paint and requires no airframe changes. In contrast, Xyrec develops robotic systems that embed riblets directly into paint, while 3M has historical riblet technology but no active certified aviation product. Mako's approach achieved over 4% net drag reduction during US Air Force C-130J flight tests and is under contract for C-17 trials.
Strategic Investors Validate Airline Use Case
Virescent Ventures, backed by Australia's Clean Energy Finance Corporation, led the round after supporting Mako across four prior rounds since 2022. IAGi Ventures joins as both investor and prospective customer, planning a pilot with one of its airlines. This combination of climate finance and airline strategic capital signals conviction in a solution that lowers operating costs while cutting emissions.
Riblet Film Market Expands with Efficiency Needs
The riblet film market for aircraft is projected to grow from $300 million in 2025 to $600 million by 2034 at an 8.5% CAGR. Broader air transport modifications are expected to reach $17.2 billion by 2033. Regulatory pressure from CORSIA and net-zero mandates, combined with SAF supply remaining under 1% of jet fuel demand, creates urgency for bolt-on efficiency technologies.
Hiring Signals Manufacturing Scale-Up
Mako is actively hiring across certification, manufacturing, and US-based engineering roles following the rebrand from MicroTau in March 2026. The company targets capacity to retrofit roughly 200 commercial airliners per year and holds pre-orders for about 100 A320s.