Author: Mike Nova

• Navier is developing hydrofoil boats with the hopes of revolutionizing transportation.
• Founder Sampriti Bhattacharyya’s work at MIT inspired her focus on maritime.
• Navier’s energy-efficient vessels target commercial and military markets.

Some imagined we’d have flying cars by 2025. Sampriti Bhattacharyya is betting that vision will be closer to the water. Bhattacharyya’s Bay Area startup, Navier, is building hybrid-electric boats that glide above the water, vessels that she believes could not only change commercial transportation, but also military use.

“Why don’t we have boats at scale that are, like, Uber on the water?” she said in an interview with Business Insider. “If you can move things on the water at the cost, speed, and convenience of land and air, you can build large networks of transportation.”

Bhattacharyya’s interest in maritime — which she sees as a “trillion dollar opportunity” — stemmed from her PhD at MIT, where she worked on underwater drones.

Unlike standard boats, Navier’s hybrid-electric vessels, which the company constructs end-to—end, have underwater wings that lift the hull out of the water. Bhattacharyya says the hydrofoiling technique consumes 90% less energy than its traditional gas counterpart and creates a stable glide even in the choppiest of conditions, eliminating seasickness. And her company’s hybrid-electric boats are ten times cheaper to operate, she added.

‘Build machines to understand the universe’

Born and raised in India, Bhattacharyya first immigrated to the US at around 20 years old for an internship at Fermilab, the particle physics research lab outside Chicago. There, she discovered her interest in building ” machines to understand the universe, mostly, and, you know — the planets, the universe, and all of that.”

Bhattacharyya was then awarded a Department of Energy scholarship and a master’s in aerospace engineering from Ohio State University. While completing her degree, she interned at NASA, where she worked on flight-control algorithms and contributed to research on a subcritical nuclear reactor. That work earned her a spot in MIT’s mechanical engineering PhD program, where Bhattacharyya “started actually working on not designing reactors, but on robots for monitoring boiling water reactors,” she said.

Her academic focus shifted in 2014, when Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disappeared. “That was a turning point,” she said. “How can we not find an airplane?”

During her PhD, she began building some of the first stealth underwater drones — systems capable of ocean mapping, reconnaissance, pipeline inspection, and other critical functions, Bhattacharyya said.

The work also sparked a key question: “Why do you have to push water if you can glide above?”

‘A high-speed boat that goes from Redwood City to Berkeley’

In late October, Navier announced three hybrid-electric boats, all of which the company builds end-to-end: 30-foot, 80-foot, and 120-foot vessels. The company says each will last for thousands of nautical miles on a single charge, since Navier believes gliding above the water increases its boats’ fuel efficiency.

“Why don’t we have a high-speed boat that goes from Redwood City to Berkeley?” she asked, adding that on one of her boats, “It will take you 20 minutes, rather than one and a half hours.”

The startup isn’t alone in its pursuit of more efficient vessels: Vessev, a startup based in New Zealand, and Candela, based in Stockholm, also make hydrofoil, electric boats.

Navier’s announcement unveiling its bigger boats comes as top military brass have signaled a strong desire to procure tech from startups. Navier already works with the Navy and Defense Department, Bhattacharyya said, which adds Navier to the ever-growing list of dual-use startups — or ones that work with both commercial and government clients.

“You need vessels with a long range because you want to be in the Red Sea, in the South China Sea, and go long distances and have less fueling time,” she added.

Bhattacharyya is vivified by her company’s defense applications: “I came from pretty much nothing,” she said. “To be able to do and build something that can fundamentally change how people will interact with the world is a huge blessing.”

• As the secondhand luxury market continues to grow, shoppers are increasingly buying with resale in mind.
• When it comes to handbags, certain styles, designers, and colors tend to hold their value more than others.
• Fashionphile founder Sarah Davis broke down what to look for when buying and selling luxury bags.

The first handbag Sarah Davis ever sold was a Louis Vuitton red Epi bucket bag. As a law student looking to make money, she’d bought it at a DC thrift store in 1999 for $250 and flipped it on eBay. She used the proceeds to buy two more and do the same.

While she ditched eBay and outsourced procurement, she’s essentially doing the same thing 25 years later as the founder of Fashionphile, a secondhand luxury platform. Over the past 25 years, the company said it has sold 2 million accessories — including several Louis Vuitton red Epi bucket bags.

The company expects to sell more than $500 million worth of products this year and is profitable, it said.

Fashionphile’s rise has coincided with a surge in the luxury resale market.

The secondhand fashion and luxury market is expected to grow two to three times as fast as the firsthand luxury market over the next two years and reach $317 billion globally by 2027, according to a November report from McKinsey.

Affordability and accessibility are driving the growth.

“There was a day that there were two real, in my opinion, entry points to luxury,” Davis said: Coach and counterfeits. “Now they don’t have to do either. They can come straight to us.”

As secondhand becomes second nature, consumers are shopping with resale in mind.

Luxury watches, jewelry, and bags — all of which Fashionphile sells — are popular investment pieces, the McKinsey report said. They tend to hold their value and can sell for more on the secondhand market than they do on the primary one.

Davis buys into the model. One of her favorite bags is a mini Chanel flap bag that she’s had for more than a decade. She bought it used, of course, and plans to resell it soon, only because her new phone can’t fit.

“I could sell it for thousands more, even in the shape it’s in,” Davis said.

As the ultimate handbag reseller, Davis shared three tips for shopping and selling handbags on the secondhand luxury market.

1. Classics are classics for a reason.

If you’re looking for resale value, stick to signature styles.

Fashionphile’s No. 1 selling bag this year is the Louis Vuitton Speedy. The Chanel Double Flap and Hermès Evelyne are also hits.

“We sell, every day, dozens of the classics,” Davis said. “They get on the site; they move very quickly.”

These bags are never on sale, and their prices increase every year. That means if you wait it out long enough — and treat your bag well enough — there will be a payday.

“You take that Louis Vuitton bag, keep it for a few years, you will be able to sell it for more than you bought it for,” she said. “It’s kind of like buying a house; you sell that, get more money, build your way up to your Birkin.”

2. Black and brown can equal green.

Like classic styles, classic colors hold their value the best.

“Black is always a go,” Davis said.

Brown — ranging from taupe to caramel to chocolate — is Fashionphile’s second most popular color.

Unlike other colors, which can trend in and out, these neutral tones are timeless, which means you can resell an item in one of these hues next year or in 10 years.

3. Don’t be afraid to dig.

Getting the best deal, whether or not you’re planning to resell, takes work, Davis said.

“There are so many bargains to be had — 70%, 80% off retail — if you’re willing to do the search,” she said.

Fashionphile has tens of thousands of items available at any given moment. Most users, she said, won’t go through them all, focusing instead on new arrivals or the most popular styles.

Some of the best deals are on items that are a slight variation of the classic. A navy Chanel bag will sell for less than a black one, for example, and a more obscure shape Louis Vuitton will sell for less than a Speedy.

“There are some funky little styles, and you take a little bit of color, you’re going to get an incredible deal,” she said.