French marine design company AYRO has receiving a capital injection of €10.5m from America’s Ocean Zero as well as France’s Bpifrance and Mer Invest which will fund the production of its Oceanwings wingsail solution at a new facility in Caen-Blainville, Normandy.
AYRO, founded in 2018 as a spin-off from the French naval architecture firm VPLP, has carried out extensive trials of the Oceanwings® technology for two years on the catamaran Energy Observer.
Data from the trials indicated that major cargo vessels incorporating Oceanwings could decrease fuel consumption by as much as 45%, allowing shipping companies to comply with IMO environmental and energy efficiency regulations.
Innovation agency Bpifrance has supported AYRO through its Plan Climat and now feels that the market for hybrid wind propulsion will soon take-off. These views were echoed by Mer Invest and Ocean Zero, who are both financially supporting low-emission marine technologies.
Marc Van Peteghem, co-founder and president of AYRO, said: ”We are delighted to have been able to assemble this unique team of investors and are looking forward to working with them to make AYRO the reference mark of the hybrid wind propulsion market.”
Gloss