Press Kit

Airbnb and Samara co-founder Joe Gebbia donates $25 million to The Ocean Cleanup

Entrepreneur and designer Gebbia’s contribution marks the organization’s largest private donation to date and will advance global cleaning efforts in oceans and rivers.

ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands—February 03, 2023 – Today, The Ocean Cleanup, the international non-profit project developing and scaling technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic, announced their largest private donation to date, a $25 million gift from Joe Gebbia, Co-founder of Airbnb and Samara and Chairman of Airbnb.org. The Ocean Cleanup will use these funds to further continue and expand its operations across oceans, rivers, recycling and research, and in particular to support the ongoing transition to System 03, the latest iteration of its ocean cleaning system, in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This latest gesture of support from Joe Gebbia will significantly contribute to The Ocean Cleanup’s mission, allowing it to scale faster, remove pollutants more efficiently, and ultimately move closer to its vision of restored oceans around the world.

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Interceptor Trashfence, Guatemala, Rio Las Vacas. First attempt of The Ocean Cleanup's Trashfence in 2022
Excavators removing trash that remained after the flash flood. Guatemala, Rio Las Vacas, May 2022.
Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb and Samara
Boyan Slat, founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup
Trash that accumulated along the Interceptor Trashfence in Rio Las Vacas, Guatemala, May 2022

Interceptor 007 in Los Angeles County, Ballona Creek, collecting trash before it reaches the Pacific Ocean.
Boyan Slat, founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup on a polluted beach in Honduras
Boyan Slat, founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup standing in the river Las Vacas in Guatemala
Plastic sorting on deck, after a System 002 extraction. System 002 is The Ocean Cleanup's ocean cleanup system operating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Plastic sorting on deck, after a System 002 extraction. System 002 is The Ocean Cleanup's ocean cleanup system operating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Plastic being dumped on deck from System 002, The Ocean Cleanup's ocean cleanup system.
Plastic being haulded up on deck from System 002, The Ocean Cleanup's ocean cleanup system.
Plastic pollution in a gully in Jamaica where The Ocean Cleanup has Interceptor Barriers
Plastic pollution on a river bank close to one of The Ocean Cleanup's Interceptors in Dominican Republic