An Auckland company building electric boats that lift above the water has raised $32.6 million to ramp up production and expand into the United States.
Vessev's already secured its first American customer, with California operator FlyTahoe ordering multiple Auckland-built VS–9 electric hydrofoiling vessels for a proposed passenger network on Lake Tahoe.
Its VS–9 Kermadec has been shipped to the US, where it's expected to make its debut during New York Climate Week before travelling to Washington DC and Lake Tahoe for on-water demonstrations later this year.
The company's co-founder and chief executive Eric Laakmann told 1News breaking into the US is a significant step for the business.
"It's the largest marine boating market in the world and we're particularly excited about FlyTahoe and their operation," Laakmann said.
The vessels aren't just being developed for overseas customers.
One VS–9 is already operating commercially with Fullers360 in Auckland, taking passengers from the Viaduct out onto the Waitematā Harbour – the world's first certified electric hydrofoiling vessel in a commercial ferry fleet.
Projects were also underway in several Australian cities, including Hobart, Perth and Sydney.
Its vessels have since clocked more than 11,000 nautical miles across New Zealand and Australia.
Three times more efficient than conventional vessels
The VS–9 is a 9m battery-electric vessel capable of carrying up to 10 passengers.
But unlike a conventional boat, hydrofoils beneath the vessel lift its hull above the surface as it moves, reducing resistance from the water.
Laakmann said overcoming that resistance was one of the major challenges facing electric boats.
"Water is incredibly heavy, it's incredibly sticky, and so when you look at trying to make boats electric, it's hard because it's so inefficient to move a boat through water.
"So what we do is we use hydrofoils to lift the boat out of the water, completely eliminate hull drag, substantially reduce the overall drag of the vessel, which unlocks performant battery electric vessels that can go far, charge fast, and do what commercial operators need."
Vessev said its hydrofoil technology makes its vessels about three times more efficient than conventional vessels.
The boats' foil systems dynamically adjust to changing conditions up to 100 times per second, while the VS–9 has a range of up to 40 nautical miles with a full load and 50 nautical miles with a light load.
But making the technology work was only part of the challenge.
Laakmann said moving from building individual boats to manufacturing them at scale required significant investment.
"It's especially hard with this technology, but if you want to do production, like, build the machine that builds the machine, that is 10 times harder," he said.
"So, what we're doing is we're creating that production line in our facility right here in Auckland that's going to produce 10 boats a year, and those early vessels are going to be delivered to customers around the world."
Why Kiwi tech companies look overseas
Vessev follows a well-established path for New Zealand technology companies: develop at home, then look to much larger international markets to achieve scale.
Technology investment expert Mitali Purohit said New Zealand is increasingly establishing areas of expertise attractive to overseas investors.
"We're slowly but surely becoming experts in certain industry sectors. So, for example, space tech, mobility, fintech, health tech, and climate tech," Purohit said.
For businesses developed in a country of just over five million people, Purohit said international expansion could be critical to achieving significant growth, as well as making the path easier for the next Kiwi company trying to attract overseas investors.
"They see the quality of innovation and how quickly we deliver that and to global markets with limited resources," she said.
"That's a big tick. Anyone would want to invest in that, right?"
By 2027, Vessev is targeting production of one VS–9 every five weeks.
SHARE ME