A former Tesla executive believes while California was the best state to launch the company's electric car, Florida will be the best place to launch his impending electric boat company.
"I look at Tampa, and there's no reason why we can’t do similar things here than in Silicon Valley," said John Vo, CEO of Blue Innovations Group. "I understand Florida used to be the retirement place and where you travel, but not necessarily for technology or manufacturing. And there's no reason for that; you have the port, the water. The infrastructure should enable that to happen."
Vo has spent the last two years building his company, which will launch from stealth mode Thursday at the Las Vegas-based Consumer Electronic Show, better known as CES. He plans to have three iterations of his electric boat, ranging from the first model intended for short trips up to its third model, which he hopes people will use to live, work and play.
The company comes as flocks of people who moved into homes along the water have been met with rising sea levels, erosion and pollution.
"Eventually, we foresee if everything goes well and the population grows, where are you going to go? You have to go to the water," Vo said. "And right now, that is very unsustainable ... for us, this is enabling people to go from land to water and to have a sustainable solution."
In addition to sustainability, electric boats can be significantly cheaper. Charging a 30-foot-long electric boat can cost roughly $100 while filling it with gasoline would top over $1,000, according to Vo.
But Vo's main focus is not necessarily on the technology or even the boats themselves; it's building a great technology company, taking the lessons learned from Silicon Valley startups and ensuring to not repeat their mistakes.
"I see a lot of stuff in Silicon Valley I don't want to repeat here," he said. "It's another personal reason I started the company."
Vo had previously worked as Tesla's Head of global manufacturing until 2017. He then created an electric vehicle startup, which was sold within the year. He had a brief stint in Ohio before landing in Riverview in December 2020.
"Based on my experience, the team is the key; the employees are what make the company," he said. "And from day one, I focused on building that team because, ultimately, the team will carry the company and grow with it."
The company employs roughly 30 people, with Vo's goal to hit 100 by the end of the year and 200 in 2024, when he expects the boat to go into production.
"When you think of a startup, people focus on a hot product — but to me, the most important product is the company itself," Vo said. "Yes, we make electric boats. But it's not the priority; it's to build a company first. What makes the company is the people and the process, and if you have a great company, you'll definitely have a good product."
The company has raised over $3 million in seed funding and is working on a Series A that could range between $10 million and $30 million.
"There are electric boats out there, but we don't want people to buy our boats because they're electric," Vo said. "We want to buy it because it's the best."
