Valo

From cars to trains to planes, the future of transportation is electric. That’s why companies like Tesla (cars) and Joby Aviation (planes) have become multi-billion-dollar businesses.

But up until now, there hasn’t been a company spearheading the effort to electrify maritime transportation. Enter Valo.

Valo is developing a line of fully-electric water vessels that are nearly twice as efficient as traditional, gas-powered ones. Not only are these vessels fast, efficient, and a thrill to ride, but the technology behind them has the potential to transform nearly every recreational and commercial boat.

Marine transportation has left a lasting legacy, particularly in the U.S. Forty percent of Americans live in costal counties, yet these places represent just ten percent of the country’s entire land mass.

Water has helped transport goods and people for centuries. Even today, water transport is critical to the global economy. Every year, eleven billion tons of goods worth fourteen trillion dollars are transported by water.

But boats rely on inefficient, outdated technology. Soon, they’ll look to Valo for help.

Valo’s water vessels are what are known as hydrofoils.

A hydrofoil is an underwater fin that has a wing-like structure. And boats that use these fins are themselves referred to as hydrofoils.

Essentially, hydrofoil boats travel through water on wings. These wings, called “foils” because of their resemblance to airfoils, create lift for a boat by deflecting water flowing over their surfaces — the same way an airplane’s wings deflect air.

These foils lift the boat above the surface of the water, enabling the craft to escape the drag of surface friction. The result is a craft that can go twice as fast as a conventional one with the same engine.

But hydrofoils can be tough to balance. That’s why Valo solved this challenge with its proprietary technology. This technology keeps hydrofoils balanced, ensuring stability and rejecting disturbances during motion.

With its vessels and technology, Valo is targeting some major markets. These include the forty-two-billion-dollar market for recreational boating, the forty-billion-dollar market for short sea cargo shipping, and the twenty-two-billion-dollar market for passenger transport.

Valo sells its hydrofoils direct to consumers. And it will soon sell its technology to recreational and commercial boat builders.

The company launched in 2018. And while it’s pre-revenue, it has amassed three-and-a-half million dollars in pre-sales for its initial personal watercraft. It’s also received $124 million worth of Letters of Intent from Fortune 100 firms, ferry groups, and original-equipment manufacturers.

Notable investors in Valo include Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Fifty Years VC, and Climate Capital. Valo projects to reach $100 million in annual revenue by 2029.

Team Background

Ed Kearney - Chief Executive Officer

Ed is a successful entrepreneur who’s founded many companies and achieved two exits.

He’s the co-founder of GownTown, a retailer specializing in graduation merchandise; the cofounder of TahDah Productions, a video-production company; and the co-founder of Snappr, the world’s largest photography company offering services for on-demand professional photographers.

Kearney also has extensive experience in the marine-transportation industry, having created the first hydrofoiling container ship.

Early in his career, Ed was a graduate researcher with the University of New South Wales’ Australia Water-Research Laboratory, where he spent three years tutoring civil-engineering courses including water engineering, structural design, hydrology, and engineering mechanics.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s degree in Coastal and Ocean Engineering from The University of New South Wales.

Red Baird - Chief Technology Officer

Reo is an MIT graduate with extensive experience in hydrofoiling technology, engineering, and entrepreneurship.

Before joining Valo in 2023, he co-founded Navier, a maritime-transportation company creating electric-hydrofoil water vessels. He also served as the company’s Chief Technology Officer. Prior to that, he spent two years as an analyst with McKinsey, a prominent consulting firm, focusing on the marine industry.

Earlier in his career, he co-founded Intentiv Robotics, a robotics company focused on the video and photography sectors. Before that, he was an engineer with Ocean Networks Canada, a research company monitoring the coasts of Canada and the Arctic and collecting real-time data for maritime companies. He also started a car-repair shop called Vector Automotive Services.

Reo earned a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT.

Paul Beiker - Naval-Architecture Consultant

Paul is a pioneer in marine design, having spent more than thirty years in design and engineering roles within the industry.

Notably, he was the principal-design engineer on foiling boats used by Oracle Team USA, a yacht-racing syndicate initially formed to compete for America’s Cup, the oldest and one of the most famous international sailing competitions.

Co-Investors

Y Combinator

Seed-stage accelerator whose alumni include Scribd, Reddit, Airbnb, Dropbox and Stripe

Climate Capital

A VC firm investing in companies focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.