Better options for a healthier food system
Clean up our food systems
Reduce toxic plastics
Improve collective health of our planet
From Passion to Product
Our Story
From Passion to Product
The story of Viable Gear is the story of what happens when you get a little angry about a problem then follow that passion. Because before Viable Gear was a reality, Founder and CEO, Katie Weiler became obsessed with plastic as a global crisis and—more to the point—how to reduce the use of it, and remove it from our oceans and food chains.
Growing up in Maine, Katie spent her childhood hunting for crabs and slipping on seaweed, but it wasn’t until her return in 2019 that she began thinking about it in a new way. Working on the problem that ghost gear presented to oceans, she wondered whether a solution might lie in using seaweed in the creation of bioplastics.
As Katie spoke to experts in material sciences, she realized it was possible to turn seaweed into a bioplastic that could replace petroleum-based plastic, yet compostable and marine degradable without leaving toxins behind.
In 2025, Viable Gear offered its first product, SeaTwine, for aquaculture and agriculture applications. With more products and new applications for our Better Bioplastic Technology in development, cleaner solutions are coming.
Meet Viable
Team
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Katie Weiler
Founder & CEO
Katie founded Viable Gear in 2021 after a decade in marketing and management consulting, where she focused on strategy and leadership development. Her perspective shifted after watching A Plastic Ocean, which sparked a passion for low-waste living and a deep concern for the global plastic crisis—especially its impact on public health. Having grown up by the ocean, Katie set her sights on ghost gear—lost or abandoned fishing gear—as a critical piece of the problem. She decided to start at the source: “If no one else was doing anything about it, then we might as well try!”
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Emma Lamb
Co-Founder & COO
Emma is an ocean advocate leveraging innovation to combat plastic pollution. She joined Viable Gear after earning a master’s in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the London School of Economics, with the focus of her dissertation on building a business case for bringing biodegradable fishing gear to the market. Previously, she spent the last ten years working in impact supporting philanthropic, consulting, microfinance, and other social enterprises worldwide.
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Mirela Artner
Senior Material Scientist
Mirela is a chemist and materials scientist with a PhD in Forest Biomaterials and a Master’s in Materials Science and Engineering. Originally from Santa Catarina, Brazil, she earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the Federal University of Santa Catarina. Her career began in environmental remediation and continued as an R&D Scientist in sustainable materials. She pursued graduate research focused on nano-biobased materials and alternatives to petroleum-based polymers, completing a PhD and postdoc at North Carolina State University. There, she studied bio-based materials for packaging and hygiene applications.
Our Partners
Advisory Team
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Dr. Paroma Bhattacharya
London School of Economics
Board of Advisors
Social innovation expert -
Chris Cary
New England Ocean Cluster
Board of Advisors
Marketing strategy & founder -
Peter Stocks
Lacha, Ltd.
Board of Advisors
Lawyer & working waterfront expert -
Bob Weiler
Brimstone Consulting
Board of Advisors
Executive team coaching & strategy
Funders
Awards & Recognition
Careers
Be a part of the team
At Viable Gear, we’re creating innovative, seaweed-based solutions to replace plastics and protect our planet. Join our passionate team and help tackle plastic pollution while building a cleaner, more sustainable future.
