Auckland startup Vessev has released another eye-catching clip of its hydrofoiling e-boat on the city’s harbour - this time complete with a cabin.
In May, the firm released its first footage of its 10-passenger “VS-9″ - albeit “topless”, as Icehouse Ventures CEO Robbie Paul put it (Paul’s firm is the largest Vessev backer with a 27% stake)
Paul later explained to the Herald that it had been imperative to get a prototype on the water.
Even if it was cabinless, proof-of-concept trips between Auckland and Waiheke were needed to sell potential new investors on the tech - and fast.
“They didn’t have months. They had weeks or maybe days,” Paul says. “They knew that, once they proved their technology worked, customers and investors would come knocking.”
The hope was that the success would unlock $1m in capital.
Paul says in the end it was many times that amount in a round led by an offshore VC but with Icehouse – which earlier put in seed money and capital through its Sustainable Tech Fund – adding to its stake via its $100m Growth Fund II.
Details of the round have yet to be made public. A May Companies Office update shows new shares issued to the San Francisco-based Field Family Investments.
With its May demo, Vessev was also able to name an anchor customer: ferry operator Fullers.
Fullers chief executive Mike Horne sees it being booked ad-hoc by tourists for a jaunt to Waiheke or a thrill ride around the harbour- but also as a stepping stone for a larger commuter boat.
His firm plans to work with Vessev on a 100-passenger, 19m version.
The zero-emission, carbon fibre laminate VS-9 - designed and built in Auckland by Vessev - has partial foiling from 12 knots, reducing pitch-and-roll motion and “takes off” to full-foiling mode waves at 18-19 knots.
“You’ll be able to talk on a cellphone or give a presentation at 20 knots, which you can’t on a regular boat,” Horne said. “It’ll be very stable.”
Paul said hydrofoiling technology was the future.
“You can’t tell me that passenger ferries, commercial operators and tourism boats would choose both a significantly less pleasant experience, particularly if there’s chop,” he said.
“I would put all my money on the bet that most boats will be foiling, hands down. Would I put all my money on it that Vessev is the one? I don’t know. I’ll put some money on it.”
Vessev’s mix of backers also includes Sir Stephen Tindall’s K1W1, Australasian VC firm Blackbird Ventures, US VC firm Shasta Ventures, founder and original CEO Max Olson (now chief technology officer) and new CEO Eric Laakmann (an American who was development lead for the original Apple Watch before going on a sail-the-world sabbatical that saw him stranded in Auckland by Covid border closures; he never left).
Port of Auckland also holds a small stake.
The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) has also chipped in $1.2m from the Government’s Low Emission Transport Fund across three grants.
During the May test runs each return Auckland CBD-Waiheke trip cost $8 in charging, Laakmann told the Herald.
Unlike the big electric ferries on the way next year (which will require $27.5m worth of multi-megawatt chargers), no new infrastructure is needed.
A chase boat, “which was actually lighter”, used $140 in petrol for the same trip, Laakmann said.
Source: Vessev, Fullers
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
'I can imagine people being outraged that TVNZ signed a deal with me.'