Flamingo Electric: Revolutionizing boating

Flamingo Electric plans to revolutionize inland lake boats. And it knows it can do it because the company founders have done it before.

The team behind Seven Marine, the one-time manufacturers of the world’s largest outboard motor and later acquired by Volvo Penta in 2017, has reunited.

Co-founders and brothers Brian and Eric Davis share the position of CEO, and a passion for marine technology. The fascination began with their father, Rick Davis, who spent his childhood on the beach near his Miami home dreaming of the engines inside the boats that sailed past him. The young engine enthusiast grew up to be an engineer who spent his career working for some of the biggest names in marine propulsion engines before the family founded Seven Marine in 2010.

The brothers are aiming to make lightning strike twice with Flamingo Electric. Founded in 2022, the company is currently working on creating a vertically integrated electric boating experience for the inland lake market segment.

“To change the customer experience, we’re using electromobility as a medium. And, in order to deliver, it requires us to revolutionize everything,” Brian Davis said.

When the Flamingo Electric engineering team began to explore current electric boat options in the market, they were unimpressed.

“We looked at it and what we saw in the marine segment was many, many companies that were taking a gas motor out and putting an electric motor in, then taking a gas tank out, putting in a battery in and saying ‘boom, we have the Tesla of marine,’ but that’s not what Tesla did,” Brian explained.

“People want a new experience. They want acceleration. They want something that changes their expectation of what they get to experience every day when they get in their car. Tesla delivered that really well because they re-approached the car from an electric perspective, and a digital perspective and they delivered a whole new experience,” he continued.

Flaming Electric integrated that lesson into the design of its soon-to-be released line of electric boats.

“People want to participate in something they enjoy, sustainably. People want the next better experience… We’re changing everything so that we can deliver a better experience to the customer, specifically in inland lakes. The two key target segments which are the fastest growing and highest revenue segments of (the) inland lake (market) are wakesports and pontoon,” he said.

Flamingo Electric has decided its first product will be a premium line of electric pontoon boats.

“We will follow the pontoon with a wakesports product family in the future. We are targeting a pontoon boat that completely improves the customer experience,” Brian said.

The company’s pontoon is a fully redesigned boat, from the passenger seating area to the uniquely created hull of the boat.

“We’re going to deliver the best accelerating pontoon boat on the market with a fully loaded status. When you put a bunch of passengers on the boat and you hit that throttle, you’re going to get that electric promise of excitement, of wow- this thing really pulls! We’re going to deliver industry leading ride and performance,” Brian said.

“The way the boat maneuvers and handles is going to be completely new for the customer. It’s a quieter ride. The hull is designed to be quieter. It’s a smoother ride. I actually call it a magic carpet ride,” he continued.

“We’re going to deliver all-day range. This is an electric boat that’s been designed to use all day, and while you rest at night, the boat recharges and it’s ready to go for the next day,” he said.

“We’re very excited to roll that product out later this summer, from a market product launch perspective, with production planned in 2026,” Brian said.

Flamingo Electric and its team of experienced engineers and designers plan to manufacture the boat in Wisconsin. Since its launch, the company has raised $4.75 million in funding and is expected to release additional funding information in Quarter 2.

To follow the growth of Flamingo Electric, connect with the company here.