Guest Speaker – Lili Xu – Ludis

Join us to hear about an innovative environmental project founded by Lili Xu from Melbourne and featured on the ABC

Lili Xu is the founder of Ludis, an Australian startup transforming end-of-life tennis balls into sustainable materials for footwear. With a background in engineering and finance, Lili combined her technical expertise with a lifelong involvement in tennis, having coached players and worked at eight Australian Opens.

After seeing countless tennis balls discarded each year, she set out to find a practical solution to one of sport’s overlooked waste streams. Today, Ludis supplies recycled tennis ball material to shoe brands to create durable, lower-impact shoe soles, helping turn sporting waste into everyday products.

Ludis has partnered with leading organisations across the tennis and sustainability sectors, collected more than 40,000 tennis balls, secured over $70,000 in non-equity funding, and completed a peer-reviewed life cycle assessment demonstrating the environmental benefits of its material. The company has also attracted interest from multiple footwear brands and been featured on ABC News.

Click to learn more The Melbourne project turning used tennis balls into shoes – ABC News

Date: Tuesday 15th September Time: 6:15 PM for 6:30 PM start

Guests welcome

An optional dinner is available in the Bistro following the meeting.