Can you remind us of Karver's origins and what created its atypical place?
Karver was founded in 2003 by Marin Clausin, the son of the creator of Profurl. He wanted to create a company more oriented towards ocean racing. Karver began by working almost exclusively on the 2004 Vendée Globe. Until 2008, ocean racing, with the Vendée Globe and the Mini circuit, as well as regattas with the America's Cup represented almost 100% of the business.
In 2008, Karver tried to develop its products for pleasure boating with the creation of a distribution network and the development of exports, which today represent 70% of the turnover.
In 2011, Karver bought Grec Marine, specialized in carts and based in Lorient. It is also the beginning of the superyacht market with the Baltic Hetairos.
In 2013, Karver can be considered to have moved into its current phase of life, leaving the start-up mode and adopting a more traditional SME management mode. We have three main markets which are racing, superyacht and yachting. Our goal is still to design hardware for sailing boats with 3 objectives: more performance, innovation and a breakthrough design.
Today, what does Karver represent in terms of turnover and personnel? What is your industrial organization?
Karver currently employs between 10 and 12 people and has an annual turnover of 2 Meuros, 70% of which is exported.
There is no production carried out in the company. All parts are subcontracted, mainly in Europe, but they are all assembled, controlled and if necessary rectified at Karver in Normandy.
What is the breakdown of your different markets and products?
We have 5 main product families:
- Storage devices
- The hooks that are our trademark, especially in ocean racing
- Pulleys, exclusively for lashing
- Bridge systems
- Mast equipment
Our markets are roughly equally divided between racing, superyacht and pleasure craft. This good distribution avoids the feeling of fragility linked to an overly specialized market. Even if it's interesting, we don't have to look for diversifications in the industry.
Geographically, we do one third of our business in France, one third in Europe outside France, and one third in the export market.
What are Karver's areas of development and projects?
In the racing market, we obviously want to continue to consolidate our leadership position in France and we should reopen an office in Lorient in 2018 for this purpose. But above all, we want to develop in new international sailing classes, such as the Volvo Ocean Race, the TP52 or the Maxi.
We are also considering opening a subsidiary in Australia to cover the Asia-Oceania market, which represents a great business opportunity. To this end, we participated in the Sydney Boat Show for the first time in 2016.
We are going to complete our range of strategic products, such as reels, an important niche in the yachting industry.
Our volumes now allow us to have a price level comparable to the competition, with more technological products. We therefore want to develop original equipment with major manufacturers, so that we can go after Mr. and Mrs. Everybody. In fact, we have already entered into a partnership with Fountaine Pajot.
In the superyacht sector, we continue to rely on our proximity and our reactivity to the big manufacturers. As you can see, the program is very full.
