MAKO flies high with shark-skin inspired technology
Flightfilm reduces aviation and shipping drag to cut emissions
Australian advanced manufacturing company MAKO is bringing an innovative solution to aviation emissions – a lightweight film product that can be applied to the surface of aircraft, reducing drag, improving fuel efficiency and cutting emissions.
$3m
CEFC investment
1st
US Air Force testing
~225m tCO2-e
annual abatement
The mako shark is the fastest shark in the world, and MAKO is our vision to make every plane reach the apex of efficiency… Flightfilm was designed to be deployed on the aircraft already flying, and MAKO will scale that impact globally.Henry BilinskyMicroTau CEO and founder
Our investment
The CEFC has invested $3 million in Sydney-based advanced manufacturing company MAKO to support sharkskin-inspired technology that can help minimise fuel costs and emissions in aviation.
The CEFC first invested in MAKO in 2022 when the company was known as MicroTau. MAKO rebranded itself and its flagship product Flightfilm™ in March 2026. Specialist climate tech venture capital manager Virescent Ventures manages CEFC MAKO investments on our behalf. MAKO has also attracted strategic investors including venture capitalist Bill Tai and Amanda Terry of ACTAI Ventures.
The Flightfilm drag-reducing surface is precision-engineered for each aircraft type and applied to an aircraft’s exterior to improve aerodynamic efficiency and cut fuel burn without requiring structural modifications.
Testing has demonstrated immediate efficiency gains of up to four per cent. While fuel burn savings can appear moderate on a per flight basis, numbers scale rapidly when aircraft utilisation is taken into account.1
our impact
Aviation industry pledges net zero
By 2050 demand for flying could increase aviation’s greenhouse gas emissions by more than 300 per cent over 2005 levels if no drastic measures are taken to reduce them, according to the European Commission. However, the global aviation industry has agreed a target of achieving net zero emissions in that timeframe.2
The United Nations International Civil Aviation Organisation has identified ramping up innovative aircraft technologies, streamlining flight operations and the increased production and use of sustainable aviation fuels as agreed measures to reduce CO2 emissions.3
Targeting commercial airline customers
MAKO is looking to design, assemble and integrate an internally-developed high-output Flightfilm manufacturing capability and pursue product and facility certifications that will enable MAKO to manufacture and deliver Flightfilm to commercial airline customers in Australia and around the world.
The Australian Government Industry Growth Program is supporting this stage of MAKO development with a ~$3 million grant announced in March 2026.4
The company was founded in 2015 when its Direct Contactless Microfabrication technology was chosen in a US Air Force global competition seeking fuel efficiency solutions.
MAKO has worked closely with the United States Department of Defense to conduct flight testing of its product on a Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules operated by the Air Force Special Operations.5
MAKO has also worked with Delta Air Lines to test Flightfilm on Delta’s Boeing 767 aircraft.6
2 World Economic Forum: The aviation sector wants to reach net zero by 2050. How will it do it?
3 World Economic Forum: The aviation sector wants to reach net zero by 2050. How will it do it?
4 Australian Government media release: $21.2 million to support new commercialisation projects, March 2026.
5 MicroTau media release: Australia’s MicroTau to conduct first flight tests of drag-reducing sharkskin film on US Air Force aircraft.
6 Mako media release: Delta partners with Mako to test Flightfilm on Delta 767s, April 2025
