ASAP Watercrafts Ltd

European Regional Development Fund Logo with blue background and circle of gold stars.

The Company

ASAP Water Crafts Ltd was one of the first businesses to enter ‘The Studio’, Loughborough University’s incubation programme for graduate enterprise.

Whilst a tenant in ‘The Studio’ the company’s founder, Ross Kemp, took part in the BBC3 show ‘Be Your Own Boss’ which gave him the opportunity to meet Loughborough honorary graduate Sir Richard Branson and in December 2013, Virgin flew Ross and his prototype to Australia to spend six weeks testing the craft with some of the best lifeguards in the world, including the elite of Bondi Beach.

ASAP Water Crafts Ltd has earned a handful of awards including: the Best Start-up Business of the Year in the Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards (2013); Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Award; Loughborough University Think BIG! Award; and a Shell Live Wire Grand Ideas Award.

What They Do

The company makes electric powered water craft for use in rescue and recreational applications.  The craft can be launched by one person and charged using solar energy.


The Challenge
 

ASAP wanted to develop a new craft with improved water-tight sealing that would be suitable for rough handling in rough water, leisure applications.    

 

drawing of a boat with diagrams

The Solution

The company applied for grant funding from ERDF Catalysing Growth to part-fund the following activities:

- Design, tooling and parts for the main compartment where battery and battery management are enclosed.  

- Consultancy to add moisture sensors to the electronics.  These sensors would detect if water has entered the product, warn the user and shut down necessary components.  

- Independent testing for Electromagnetic Conformity (EMC) to allow for CE marking on the water craft.

- Producing and testing of the prototype

The Outcome

ASAP Water Crafts Ltd managed to get the redesigns completed in time to trial a rental experience with Newquay water sport centre over the August bank holiday weekend.  They ran over 40 cave tours throughout the weekend.  Following this Newquay water sport centre placed an order for next summer.

The company is currently seeking a second round of investment to enable them to grow their sales and production.  
 

“We hit some problems with the sealing of our water craft and getting them ready for production. We knew exactly what needed to be done to solve these issues, but lacked the funds to complete them. However, with The iNet’s support we were able to complete these redesigns - we honestly could not have done it without this incredible support!”

Ross Kemp, MD