MDCP Partnership Helps Marine Tech Firms Succeed

U.S. Technology Helps Rescuers to Save Lives

Throwing a life ring to a drowning person can mean the difference between life and death. But this method is limited to how far the rescuer can throw and the rope tethering the ring. Light enough to be hand launched from ship or shore, EMILY is a small, unmanned watercraft capable of propelling itself through heavy surf to a person in the water. Arizona-based Hydonalix developed and manufactures EMILY. It can deliver life jackets or pull a recovery line and provide flotation until a rescuer arrives. It can also be equipped with scanning sonar and a video camera for search and recovery missions.

Interest in water safety is indicative of growing interest in the maritime technology industry generally, including recreation, defense, science and observation. Hydronalix is just one of many firms in the industry. The United States is home to more than 147,000 enterprises that provide products and services for ocean and aquatic applications.

This firm is one of several U.S. companies to participate in back-to-back trade events beginning with Ocean Business in the U.K., followed by other events in the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark. TMA BlueTech, an ITA-Market Development Cooperator Program (MDCP) partner of ITA, led the group of U.S. firms. At Rotterdam, Hydronalix demonstrated EMILY’s capabilities to a Dutch search and rescue team that showed up in scuba gear to assess the device’s full capabilities.

Partnership With ITA Helps Marine Tech Firms Succeed

The events were part of TMA BlueTech’s MDCP partnership with ITA. In addition to the Ocean Business trade show, the trade mission activities included B2B matchmaking, presentations and multiple networking opportunities and cluster-cluster collaboration.

TMA estimated that the trip would generate at least $2 million in total new exports. TMA collected metrics over the next several months. Nine months after the trip, companies had reported to TMA over $5 million in sales as a result. Comments from other mission participants also confirm the positive expectations.

Mark Gundersen, President and CEO of Marine Advanced Research in northern California, developed new distribution and sales leads, and finalized terms for a lease agreement. He said, “TMA and ITA exceeded my expectations… We had a packed schedule before, at, and after Ocean Business meeting with companies and organizations in our industry. You would be hard pressed to find another way to open as many doors in such a short amount of time.”

After closing an over-subscribed public offering, Durval Tavares, CEO of Aquabotix, said, “The team worked seamlessly as one entity focused on helping business get results.”

Immediate Exports of $650,000, $5 Million Nine Months Later

U.S. firms that participated in the trade mission later reported sales totaling about $650,000 to various European buyers. In the next nine months these firms reported $5 million in exports. Relationships established during the mission continued to generate exports worth millions of dollars more in the years that followed.