Most people don’t think of boats as capable of flight. But for engineer-turned-entrepreneur Sampriti Bhattacharyya, the key to decarbonizing the maritime industry began with a simple, radical question: What if they could?
At Techonomy Impact, Bhattacharyya, founder and CEO of Navier, introduced what she calls a “flying boat,” an all-electric hydrofoil that lifts gracefully above the water’s surface, transforming the very physics of maritime travel. Traditional boats fight against drag, relying on heavy hulls and gas engines that burn enormous amounts of fuel to plow through waves. Navier’s hydrofoil design takes a completely different approach. Using technology inspired by aerospace engineering, the vessel rises several feet above the water once it gains speed, cutting through the air instead of churning through resistance. The result is an 80% reduction in energy use—a revolutionary leap forward in marine efficiency.
“The world’s global shipping contributes 3% of all greenhouse gases,” Bhattacharyya said, noting that maritime emissions rank sixth among the planet’s largest polluters, greater than even the entire nation of Germany or the aviation industry. And yet, she argued, the sector has remained largely overlooked in the broader conversation about climate action. “When we think about climate change, we talk about smokestacks, cars, aviation, even cows. But we forget what’s happening on our oceans, lakes, and rivers.”
That oversight, she suggested, hides both a problem and an opportunity. Electrification alone, while promising, hits a wall when applied to traditional boats. Batteries are heavy, energy-dense fuel alternatives are limited, and heavier boats require even more power—an engineering paradox that stalls progress. Navier’s innovation sidesteps that physics trap entirely by redesigning how a boat interacts with water. Instead of pushing through it, the hydrofoil flies above it.
“What if, instead of focusing only on electrification, we asked how to build a better, more efficient boat from the ground up?” she said. “What if, instead of pushing water, we fly above it?”
Bhattacharyya and her team, a group of engineers from MIT, NASA, and the America’s Cup, built Navier on that very premise. The result is a vessel that feels more like a quiet, stable flight than a noisy ride. When the hull lifts above the waves, the slamming stops, the sound fades, and passengers can carry on a conversation in comfort. But beyond the elegance of the experience lies something more profound: a new model for sustainable, scalable transportation.
“For over a century, small boats have been too inefficient and expensive to use as daily transit,” Bhattacharyya explained. “It costs 15 times more to run a boat than a car. But when you cut energy use by 80%, eliminate noise and fumes, and make it comfortable, you unlock something entirely new.”
That “something” is what she calls the future of coastal mobility. With 40% of the world’s population living in coastal cities, Bhattacharyya envisions a world where waterways become efficient transit corridors—where every marina can be a transportation hub. Foiling ferries, electric water taxis, and point-to-point barges could move people and goods seamlessly across rivers and bays, cutting travel times dramatically and reducing reliance on congested road networks.
Her vision doesn’t stop at city limits. The same clean propulsion and hydrofoil systems could scale outward—first to intercity ferries, then to regional cargo routes, and eventually to global shipping. “No single company is going to transform shipping overnight,” she acknowledged. “But the technology stack we’re building, clean propulsion and hydrofoiling, scales. It will transform the way goods move across the world.”
For Bhattacharyya, Navier’s work is about more than engineering breakthroughs; it’s about redefining how industry approaches purpose. “At Navier, we’re changing the way people and goods move across our waterways,” she said. “We’re transforming them into the highways of tomorrow—a zero-emission, connected network that’s both economically viable and sustainable for the planet.”
She closed her talk with two numbers that, together, tell the story of both urgency and hope: six and 80. Six, representing maritime shipping’s rank among the world’s top polluters. And 80, representing the percentage of energy Navier’s hydrofoils save compared to traditional boats. “Those two numbers,” she said, “tell the story of where we are and where we can go. The urgency of our challenge—and the hope that comes from innovation. Because the solution is really about flying above the water.”
Watch the full session from Techonomy Impact here:
