Clever new products simplify yachting: Tech-driven new companies are launched at Start-Up areas (1)
Start-Ups get introduced to the international community of yachting professionals every year at Metststrade Show. Upcoming edition, seventeen (17) start-ups will present their innovations at the Leisure Marine Start-Up area in Hall 5, with eight (8) newly founded companies presenting advanced products at the Superyacht Start-Up area in hall 8. Brightness radiates from these assemblies of fresh technology-driven entrepreneurs.
In this article, a selection of four of the participants at the Start-Up areas tell about their companies and products. In the continued article, three more share their ideas.
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The start-up areas are co-organised by Yachting Ventures, an accelerator company that specialises in helping newly established companies in the leisure marine industry to obtain the right connections, acquire funding and get known in the industry worldwide. Founder Gabbi Richardson observes a lot of activity of newcomers in yachting: “The marine startup community has never been more active. Across the Start-Up area and Superyacht Start-Up area, we’re seeing founders tackle an increasingly broad range of challenges, from electrification and sustainability to maintenance, safety and the day-to-day realities of running a yacht.”
Make A.I. work
Artificial Intelligence has been a buzzword for some editions of the trade show. Newcomers in the industry are capitalising on it. Richardson: “One noticeable development is the growing use of AI and connected technology. In both pavilions, a considerable number of the companies are building AI products. This reflects a broader shift towards using technology to simplify operations, reduce administration and help people make better decisions.
Selection highlighted
Seven (7) of the new companies’ founders express their excitement to be part of the Start-up area at Metstrade. They all enter the marine industry with different products: from an onboard wave energy generator, a documentation organiser app, environment-friendly lubrication and technology that creates potable water on board without complicated systems: the differentiation is impressive.
Elvalen
Slovenian company Primum put some ten years of research into the development of Elvalen. This is a device that generates electricity from the rocking motion that a boat experiences in waves. In the upcoming edition of Metstrade, Elvalen is first introduced to the international industry as a brand name for the wave-motion battery charging device for yachts. Founder Primoz Kunaver explains: “An internal eccentric mass moves up and down, driving an electrical generator through a gearbox. Complex electronics then convert the variable electrical output into a suitable charging voltage for a 12 Volt onboard battery system. t can generate electricity at anchor, on a mooring or underway. Batteries often fully discharge during winter months. The most important function of Elvalen is battery maintenance, by preventing batteries from full discharge in the winter time. During summer sailing, it can also provide some supplementary charging to the board battery. In moderate waves, the output is approximately 3 Watt. When the battery needs quick re-charging, a removable handle is fitted so the crew can move the mechanism in Elvalen by hand and generate electricity that way.”
YachtPass
Sailing permits, Yachtmaster’s certificate, boat registration, ensurance documents, radio certificates, manuals for engine, navigation equipment and maintenance instructions for all systems on board. This list is not complete, but already comprises of lots of documents. Most boaters keep all of them in paper on board. Yachtass keeps all these documents certified in one app. A QR code allows for scanning by authorities so authenticity can be acknowledged. The app aso allows to ‘talk to your boat’. With all of the manuafacturer manuals of all systems on board integrted into the app, the A.I. function can explain ho to do maintenance or execute repairs. But there is more: the ownership, maintenance and repair history of the boat can be archived. This feature is beneficial for boat value. Especially for brokers, having the history of a boat documented has very high value. This gives real insight in the health of a boat’s systems. “In the automotive industry, registration of car maintenance history, ownership and more is automised,” founder Nard Kempers of the Dutch company explains. “It will be of immense value for boat resellers if this could also be done for yachts. We go to Metstrade to try to convince the yachting industry that digitisation of boat’s maintenance history and ownership is needed and that we have the tool for just that. And of course, individual boat owner may find YachtPass practical, too.”
NZero
Pant-based lubrication products are introduced to leisure boating by Nzero Marine. Started in 2025, this is the marine brnch of Nzero, who produce non-fossil lubrication products for sports: wax for ski’s and snowboards, lube oil and degreaser for bikes and now lube, grease, degreaser and wax for boaters. Guillem Capellades from the Spanish company explains: “NZero Marine provides an innovative alternative for vessel maintenance and to contributes to a more responsible evolution of the marine industry. Our plant-based solutions are designed to address common needs in marine maintenance, such as lubrication, component protection, and usability. Our goal is to provide professionals and boaters with functional products that enable efficient work, while simultaneously reducing reliance on certain mineral-based raw materials. Boats and yachts sail in direct contact with the aquatic environment. Therefor, the composition of the products they use is of particular importance. We believe that sustainability must be an integral part of technical decision-making, rather than merely a marketing argument. At Nzero we have the ambition to demonstrate that innovation, functionality, and environmental responsibility can all be part of a single, cohesive value proposition. At Metstrade, we aim to establish relationships with distributors and commercial partners who can help us bring our solutions to new clients and markets. We want the whole marine industry worldwide to know NZero Marine offers sustainable maintenance products for boating.“
https://www.nzerowax.com/en/marine
Vital Lyfe
Founders Andrew Harner and Jonathan Criss of this Californian company share purpose in creating a simple and reliable tool to make clean drinking water everywhere at low cost. They created Access: a watermaker-in-a-box. The 11,3 kg box of 50 x 23 x 20.5 cm contains all thart is necessary to make clean drinking water from sea water or contaminated water. A battery is inside on which it can run an hour, producing almost 23 liters of water from salty sea water or over 45 liters of clean water from contaminated fresh water. Water is cleaned at the molecular level by pressing it through a membrane at high pressure. The watermaker is controlled from a smartphone app. This device can run on it’s own battery and on external 12 Volt supply. There is no need for complicated installation. Harner explains: “Our portable and simplified tech is ideal for sailors, bluewater cruises, leisure boaters. Because it’s portable, you can also take it ashore, which a fixed unit can’t do. We have only just begun our expansion into the EU and its very exciting for us to get new eyes on our technology. We believe that ‘access’ is a step change to what people are used to in boating. We want as many people as we can to come see it, pick it up, and run it.”
