Fly-Box, a cutting-edge company based in France and Switzerland, specializes in eco-friendly waterway transportation of goods ranging from kilograms to tons.
What we aim for and do
Fly-Box aims to revolutionize maritime freight transportation with sustainable and efficient solutions. While we do not intend to supplant the massive cargo vessels across the oceans, our attention is drawn to the final stage of transportation, currently dominated by diesel-fueled trucks.
We aim to link primary port hubs, such as San Francisco and Rotterdam, with smaller secondary ports situated along the coastal regions. Our solutions are suitable for waterway transportation, including the Arles to Marseille and Lyon route. We also provide solutions for transporting goods between cities bordering lakes, or moving products between different locations within a city that are by the sea or crossed by a river/stream.
How?
Fly-Box’s freight transport solutions utilize hydrofoils, a well-established technology utilized in America’s Cup competitions and significant ocean crossings. This technology allows ships to « fly » above the water, resulting in more efficient transportation of goods while preserving the marine ecosystem, thanks to foils that limit drag.
As Fly-Box’s solutions utilize either a battery-powered electric motor or batteries and fuel cells connected to hydrogen, they will substantially diminish the carbon footprint of freight transportation. This has significant implications given that, according to the MIT Climate Portal, trucks and vans utilized in land transportation are responsible for nearly two-thirds (65%) of emissions in the freight industry, emitting over 100 times more CO2 than ships transporting the same amount of goods over the same distance.
With six patented technologies, Fly-Box is a groundbreaking innovation designed to ensure the safety of cargo transportation at all stages, including loading, transportation, and unloading.
When the foils arrive at port, they can swivel and retract to facilitate easy docking. The platform’s maneuverability relies on the fully pivoting electric motors, efficient control over carriers using the same electronic flight controls as commercial airplanes.
Our solutions to revolutionize freight transportation
Made in France, at Lake Annecy, the Fly-Box Compact features a battery-powered electric motor and foils. This 8-meter platform has a 700 kg load capacity and is intended for transporting goods between cities around a lake or within the same city, as well as crossing rivers, streams, or the sea.
Powered by green hydrogen, the Fly-Box trays can transport cargo containers weighing tens of tons each at speeds of up to 20 knots. As part of the second phase of development, Fly-Box will introduce the idea of cluster circulation, in which containers form closely linked convoys controlled by digital mooring lines. In the third phase, we plan to create a fully autonomous system utilizing different sensors, such as LiDAR. This solution is ideal for linking main port centers to smaller secondary ports located along coastal regions or on rivers and streams.
each week, a new video of a team member
who is creating the conditions of Fly-Box take off
who is integrating Hydrogen in Fly-Box
who is making Fly-Box a real product
The first investor to join us on our journey to transform freight transportation.
Who advises the team, thanks to his knowledge of the world of the Navy
Alain Thébault
Founder & CEOAlain is the world sailing speed record holder at over 50 knots on L’Hydroptère. He has been flying boats for over 30 years. He was the creator of Seabubbles, a proof of concept of electric hydrofoil shuttle; he is developing in parallel e-nemo, a battery powered shuttle and THE JET, hydrogen powered.
Laurent Perrier
CTOLaurent was the Technical Director of BlueSolutions, the Bolloré Group’s battery design and production entity. During 15 years, he has developed numerous projects: development and optimization of the « all-solid » LMP® battery, deployment of 7 car-sharing systems around the world, design of electric boats and stationary shelters for storage energy and most recently the design and creation of the 100% electric Bluebus 12m and 6m, as well as a robotic platform.
Guillaume Dupuy d’Angeac
CFOGrew up in Japan, HEC with 20 years in Finance on the Japanese and Asian markets with Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and UBS. Fluent in French, Italian and English, but also with a good level in Japanese, Spanish and Dutch, Guillaume is convinced that only innovation can lead to a sustainable world. His job is to help create the business model of Fly-Box.
Simon Munns
Investor RelationsSimon Munns has over 30 years experience in financial markets, working for Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Nomura in a variety of international locations.
After that, Simon spent time working for a number of fund groups both in the UK and Switzerland, raising capital for their existing funds and advising them on new fund structures. In recent years, his focus has shifted somewhat, to aiding small and medium sized corporations raise growth and development capital.
Dimitri Despierres
Mechatronic & Systems2 times Winner of the America’s Cup with Oracle Team USA. As a systems and hydraulic expert, for his 8th America’s Cup, he is leading the Mechatronic Department for American Magic, Challenger for the 37th America’s Cup. For the last 20 years he’s been designing cutting edge systems that succeeded straight out of the box. His international experience and background will be an additional strength to the group.
Amiral Antoine de Roquefeuil
Senior AdvisorAntoine was Admiral in the French Navy. As General manager of Magforce International, he has developed and exported patrol boats in African countries. Support of Alain Thebault’s projects from the beginning, he advises the e-nemo team, particularly for the homologation and boating safety.
Pr Hubert Girault
HydrogenHubert Girault is Emeritus Professor at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) where he has thought for 30 years physical and analytical electrochemistry and where he directed Electromobilis, a scientific demonstrator for energy storage and hydrogen mobility. He is now a Director of H2Valais, and a member of the scientific board of Naval Group (Fr) and GreenGT (CH).
Aurélien Le Bas
Naval ArchitectAfter working for the construction of few racing sailing boats such as Volvo Ocean race and America’s cup boat, Aurélien is the managing director of the naval architecture office Butchesign since 2010. Butchdesign is based in the shipyard of La Ciotat, heart of the yacht refit industry . Our work field extends from modifications of Mega yacht to the conception of smaller boats such as E Nemo.
Christian de Bergh
Brand / CommunicationChristian is the design director of the Babel agency in Paris. He accompanies Alain on his various projects: Fly-Box, e-nemo and THE JET. He has worked on the brands of many aeronautical and maritime customers such as Dassault Aviation, CMA-CGM or Naval Group.
(press, customers, investors…)
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