Kaeru

Every year, kayaking in France involves 140,000 regular paddlers and 280,000 tourists, but also weirs that force people to carry their kayak along rocky paths, and tedious shuttles between start and finish points. To free kayakers from this logistical burden, nicknamed “the bane of kayaking”, Emilie Mathis created Kaeru, a removable electric module that attaches to the kayak to roll along paths and travels on board on the water, with no complicated assembly. With support from Tango&Scan, a prototype was developed in her Strasbourg workshop with the industrial designer Benjamin Bohrer (BHCONCEPTION), and the first kayakers and hire companies met at trade fairs will test the module on several rivers across France. Kaeru aims to make kayaking smoother, more self-sufficient and more coherent.