A team that has come together to advance our shared vision for a plastic-free future.

Planetary Visionaries, Strategists, Scientists, Engineers, Designers, Technologists,

The LOLIWARE Team

Headquartered in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area, we're a diverse and global team of planetary visionaries, strategists, scientists, engineers, designers and technologists leading the seaweed and climate-tech sector.

The Core Team

Sea Briganti

Founder and CEO

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Sea Briganti is the Founder and CEO of LOLIWARE®.

Sea is a VC-backed product developer, climate activist, and award-winning social innovator. Graduating at the top of her class at Parsons School of Design, Sea was immediately hired to build innovation pipelines for global CPG companies such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle, and L’Oréal.

Under Sea’s leadership, LOLIWARE® has developed an innovative material that aims to help tackle the triple planetary emergency: plastic pollution, climate change, and biodiversity collapse. By generating new demand for farmed seaweed, LOLIWARE®'s technology also supports the livelihoods of coastal communities around the world. With her team of expert scientists, engineers, and technologists, Sea has developed SEA TECHNOLOGY™ - an innovative new material that can be used to produce plastic-free, home-compostable, seaweed-derived products.

To date, Sea has successfully raised $12.2M in funding and obtained VC-backing for LOLIWARE®. Over the next 5 years, Sea and the LOLIWARE® team are hyper-focused on rapidly replacing plastics with seaweed to tackle plastic pollution, improve ocean health, and decarbonize the future. By harnessing the power of nature, Sea is confident that we can achieve a plastic-free future.
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Sam Murray

COO

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Sam Murray is the Chief Operating Officer of LOLIWARE®.

He is passionate about building successful businesses with smart, collaborative teams.

Most recently, Sam was CEO of Lavit, responsible for repositioning and relaunching the B2B hydration platform which eliminates single use plastic bottles into offices throughout North America. Previously he was Lavit’s COO, responsible for restructuring the businesses manufacturing operations, logistics and sales teams, leading to 50% increase in gross margins and reduced OPEX. This work enabled Coca-Cola Europe to take a substantial equity stake in the company.

Prior to Lavit, Sam co-founded and was COO/CEO of the craft food and alcohol DTC e-commerce brand Mouth Foods, providing small batch, artisanal foods to consumer pantries. He started his career at a global OEM Injection molding and extrusion company in consumer sales, and eventually as COO pioneered a strategy that embedded teams into key customers including Siemens, GE, L’Oréal, J&J, ADP, Revlon and mass market retailers to ensure a seamless relationship and faster to market performance.

When not thinking of business, people and the planet, Sam is frequently either cycling or running. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and two daughters.

Victoria Piunova

CTO

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Dr. Victoria Piunova is the Chief Technology Officer of LOLIWARE®.

Dr. Piunova hails from IBM Research, where she holds the prestigious title of IBM Master Inventor. She brings over 10 years of experience in sustainable materials development for applications in biotechnology and sensing. Victoria has invented 25 issued US patents and authored more than 30 publications in peer reviewed journals. She is also a recipient of the American Chemical Society's Young Investigator Award.

Victoria received her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California with Prof. Hogen-Esch and completed her post-doctoral studies at the California Institute of Technology in the group of Nobel Laureate Robert Grubbs.

Victoria spends her free time traveling, skiing, running marathons, and wine tasting.

Karuna Rana

Head of Climate, Impact & Policy

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Karuna Rana is Head of Climate, Impact & Policy at LOLIWARE®.

She is a Fulbright Scholar with a Master’s degree in Environmental and Energy Policy and a Bachelor's degree in Chemical and Environmental Engineering. As a social entrepreneur and sustainability advocate, she has over 10 years of career experience in the environmental sustainability space, including grassroots actions, policy advocacy, and reducing the ecological footprint of organizations - within corporations, non-profits, and inter-governmental organizations.

Coming from the small island developing state of Mauritius, Karuna grew up passionate about nature and the ocean. In her free time, she spends as much time as she can in nature and enjoys hiking, backpacking, traveling, and working on her second passion: gender equality.

John Powers

Head of Sales

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John Powers is the Head of Sales at LOLIWARE®.

John Powers is a passionate and experienced sales leader, focused on building predictable revenue teams with a strong focus on coaching and cross functional collaboration.

Most recently, John was Head of Sales for Garten, responsible for steadying and rebuilding a revenue engine in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic that had decimated the office food and beverage industry. Prior to Garten, John spent 14 years with the Red Bull Energy Drink brand, leading sales and distribution strategy across a number of roles. In his time in the Mid-Atlantic, John led the highest performing third party distribution partner in North America, delivering double digit sales and distribution growth for three consecutive years.

In his personal life, John spends his time exploring the beauty of nature with his wife Samantha and daughter Rowan. His passion for coaching led him to become a CrossFit instructor and co-found a premium CrossFit gym & Yoga studio in New Jersey, CHOYCE ATHLETICS.

Helen Michelsen

Head of Community & Brand

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Helen Michelsen is the Head of Community & Brand at LOLIWARE®.

Helen Michelsen has been riding the waves with LOLIWARE® since Day 1. As a designer and brand anchor, she has helped shape the aesthetic vision for LOLIWARE® and supported the company throughout its evolution. Outside of LOLIWARE®, Helen (“HM”) has her own business where she makes jewelry, candles, pottery, and other apothecary items.

After spending time in both New Jersey and Brooklyn, she currently lives in the Hudson Valley, NY with her husband Justin and daughter Ila.

Jose Andrade

Chemical Engineer

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Jose Andrade is a Chemical Engineer for LOLIWARE®.

He graduated from San Jose State University with a M.S. in Materials Engineering. Jose had the opportunity to collaborate with IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California as part of his Master’s project. During his time at San Jose State, he also obtained a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification. Additionally, he was part of the Society of Latino Engineers and Scientists (SOLESS).

In his free time, Jose enjoys watching soccer, playing games, and being around friends and family.

John Maclin

Head of Product Operations

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John Maclin is the Head of Product Operations at LOLIWARE®.

John studied chemical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. He has always been committed to using his engineering background to create more sustainable manufacturing practices and further novel manufacturing techniques that will disrupt the chemicals industry.

He is a committed Philly sports fan and is excited to go back to games in person as soon as possible. He is also passionate about homebrewing craft beer and would like to open his own brewery in the near future.

Lana Lee Wright

Special Advisor

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Lana Lee Wright is a Special Advisor for LOLIWARE®.

Lana has over a decade of experience managing programs, projects, and people. She has held leadership and operations roles spanning the technology and higher education sectors – including Google, Sidewalk Labs, and Apple.

By night, Lana moonlights as a DJ. She also has a fondness for ziplining, traveling, and trying the local hot sauce wherever she goes.

Marla Tomorug

Graphic Designer and Photographer

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Marla Tomorug is the Graphic Designer and Photographer for LOLIWARE®.

Marla has over a decade of experience in graphic design. She enjoys working with companies who exist to make the planet a better place. Marla is also an underwater photographer, and is inspired by the stories the ocean has hidden below the surface.

When not working, Marla can be found freediving and surfing on the island of Maui. When forced to come up for air, she is typically in the kitchen making nourishing plant-based foods.

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Mehran Umerani

Senior Polymer Scientist

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Dr. Mehran Umerani is a Senior Polymer Scientist at LOLIWARE®.
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‍Most recently, Mehran was a Scientist at Thermo Fisher Scientific in the Genetic Scientist Division. Here, he worked on developing a novel method for the preparation of DNA microarrays with high quality probes and enhanced feature resolution. This work sought to improve the way clinicians study gene expression and disease treatment.

Mehran earned a Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine with Prof. Alon Gorodetsky where he characterized and developed materials for camouflage applications derived from a cephalopod structural protein. Through this work, Mehran gained experience in organic synthesis, protein prep, and device characterization.

Mehran is passionate about technology inspired by nature. In his free time, Mehran enjoys playing golf and tennis.

The Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Louis E. Metzger IV

Scientific Advisor

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Louis E. Metzger IV, Ph.D., is a Scientific Advisor to LOLIWARE®.

Louis believes that the precise engineering of biology will enable a revolution in how humans live, work, and interact with our planet.

He is the co-founder of a stealth-mode firm and is a scientific consultant. As Chief Scientific Officer of Tierra Biosciences, he helped to build an automated, cell-free “protein printing” platform with applications in synthetic biology and in green chemistry. As a scientist at Novartis Infectious Diseases, Dr. Metzger founded and led a team that hunted for novel antibacterial molecules. Additionally Louis leads Biocaptivate, a think-tank examining the culture of science, and is a Forbes contributor.

Fascinated by the biochemical treasures that have evolved in the oceans over deep time, Dr. Metzger is delighted to help LOLIWARE solve the problem of plastics pollution.

Dr. Garret Miyake

Scientific Advisor

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Garret Miyake is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board at LOLIWARE®.

He is a co-founder of New Iridium and Cypris Materials. He is currently an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Colorado State University.

He performed his Ph.D.studies at Colorado State University before conducting postdoctoral research with Robert Grubbs at the California Institute of Technology.

He has been awarded the Sloan Research Fellowship, the Cottrell Scholar Award, the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, the American Chemical Society’s Division of Polymer Chemistry Mark Young Scholar Award, and the American Chemical Society’s Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering Journal of Polymer Science Innovation Award.

Dr. Carlos M. Duarte

Scientific Advisor, Seaweed Sustainability & Supply Chain

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Carlos Duarte is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board at LOLIWARE®.

Carlos is the Tarek Ahmed Juffali Research Chair in Red Sea Ecology at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), in Saudi Arabia. He has published more than 850 scientific papers, and was recently ranked as the top marine biologist in the world.

Duarte’s research focuses on understanding the effects of global change in marine ecosystems, developing marine-based solutions to global challenges, including mitigating climate change through Blue Carbon strategies, a concept he co-authored, and developing evidence-based strategies to rebuild the abundance of marine life by 2050.

He has received many honors, most recently the Carlo Heip award for Excellence in Marine Biodiversity Research (2018), the Ramon Margalef Ecology Award (2019), and the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Ecology and Conservation Biology (2020).

The Board of Advisors

Oliver B. Libby

Managing Partner and Co-Founder,
Hatzimemos / Libby

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Oliver Libby is a member of the Board at LOLIWARE®.

Oliver B. Libby is Managing Partner and co-founder of Hatzimemos / Libby, a strategy and venture firm based in New York City. Founded in 2009, H/L is dedicated to accelerating companies, focusing on high-growth businesses that add value to society.

Mr. Libby also chairs the Board of The Resolution Project, Inc., a non-profit organization based in New York City which he co-founded in 2007. Through its Social Venture Challenges, held at leading youth conferences around the world, Resolution identifies undergraduate students who wish to launch new social ventures.

Mr. Libby has been invited to speak at Harvard, Columbia, and the United Nations, among other thought leadership venues and convenings and his work has been covered in publications including the New York Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, LinkedIn, VICE,Fast Company, Reuters, the NY Post, and The Huffington Post. He has spoken and published work focusing on the nexus between the future of work, job creation, innovation, social entrepreneurship, and leadership.

Nishan Degnarain

Founder,
Breakthrough Ocean Ventures

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Nishan Degnarain is a member of the Board at LOLIWARE®.

Nishan Degnarain is an economist and founder of Breakthrough Ocean Ventures, an advisory firm focused on ‘ocean moonshots’ that leverages new technologies and novel business models to transform the health of our ocean especially for coastal and island communities. He was formerly elected Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council, that sets the oceans agenda each year for world leaders at Davos, and helped establish WEF’s new Special Initiative on the Ocean.

He was formerly in the UK Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, and was also with McKinsey and Company. He has held a series of board and executive positions in the public and private sectors, including being appointed by the Cabinet of Mauritius to both Mauritius Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee as well as the National Ocean Council, and also appointed as an International Member of CCICED (‘The China Council’) that advises the Chinese Government on Ocean strategy.

He has won several awards, including being recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He recently authored Soul of the Sea in the Age of the Algorithm, highlighting how the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ can radically transform ocean governance and restore ocean health.

Justin Kamine

Co-Founder & Partner,
Kamine Development Corporation

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Justine Kamine is a member of the Board at LOLIWARE®.

Justin Kamine has been at the forefront of sustainable and environmentally progressive technologies and food movements for the past six years. Through his angel investments and entrepreneurial talents, he is deeply involved with growing technologies that are actively transforming the agriculture world, creating a more sustainable food supply chain, eliminating food and plastic waste, and building solar energy capacity. He has been consistently featured in CNBC, Forbes, Entrepreneur, and other publications.

Justin is a managing member of Kamine Development Corporation, the Kamine family’s development office. He is also a Co-Founder and Partner at KDC Ag, a company deploying a fresh food waste conversion technology to eliminate food waste and increase sustainable farming across the United States.

Justin has committed his life and dedicated his career to proving that environmentally sustainable investments and technologies can progress society while providing better than normal financial yields.

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