Seares diversifies: after yachts, the focus is now also on naval vessels.
There are many areas of application for mooring systems, including in the naval and dam sectors.
The fact that there is room for young and innovative companies in the high-end nautical market is demonstrated by the history of Seares Srl, a manufacturer of mooring systems for boats with unique technological features. In just a few years, it has already achieved excellent results and is now looking to expand into different application areas.
At SUPER YACHT 24, founder and CEO Giorgio Cucé explains the history of the Livorno-based company and the reasons for its optimism for the future.
Can you give us a current snapshot of the company?
Seares was founded in July 2018, but research into the products we currently market began much earlier, in 2012 and 2013, with the first patents. I'd like to point out that they were all developed internally, 100% in-house. In the years that followed, we found investors who believed in us, and we got going: today, we have fifteen direct employees and just closed the year with a turnover of €200.
You're a startup. What are your employee profiles?
"Especially engineers, from various backgrounds, from mechanics to electronics to aerospace. This is allowing us to consider implementing our technologies in fields far beyond the nautical sector, opening up new markets."
Who is the customer base for your mooring systems?
We have two customer categories. Shipowners and captains looking for innovative, high-tech products, as we make their boats smart while keeping their onboard batteries charged. All Seares products guarantee improved comfort, stability, and safety: we reach private customers through a network of distributors. The market is broad because our 'dampers' have no displacement limits and can adapt from small boats to superyachts. Then we have marina managers, to whom we can sell directly and on whose behalf we can also design tailor-made solutions, customizing them to meet the specific needs of individual ports. Our technology can enable ports' transition to Industry 4.0, a beneficial and concrete opportunity in this particular historical period.
How did the promotion of the brand and products take place?
"Initially, simply through word of mouth among shipowners, then through participation in trade fairs, primarily the 2019 Mets, followed by the Genoa boat shows in 2020 and last year. The commercial return was immediately positive."
2022 didn't start well in this sense, with the cancellation of Boot Düsseldorf in January: which events do you plan to attend?
“If the general situation allows, we will do the Dubai show in March, which is important for us, then after the summer the Genoa show, the Fort Lauderdale one in October and the Mets again in Amsterdam.”
You are expanding into new markets, it was said: which ones?
The first, more closely related to the nautical sector, is naval. Our Seadamp system dampens sea waves and recovers the energy they generate, making it suitable for applications not only inside marinas but also outside and in more complex structures, such as breakwaters in commercial ports. It can also be used in aquaculture, for the installation of nets, and in the field of so-called 'lifelines,' i.e., anchors used in construction on roofs, for example.
But it doesn't end there, because, Cucé concludes, Seares is also considering uses in the field of renewable energy, such as solar or wind, especially in large structures: as long as they are... floating, of course.
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