Modernizing water rescue to save lives and keep first responders safe

Putting herself through engineering school as a lifeguard, Carlyn Loncaric became acutely aware of how difficult it is to locate someone in the water when seconds are ticking away. “I know what it’s like firsthand to be in a rescue situation and feel helpless, and it just shouldn’t happen. We have the means to build the technology that can help. I wanted to create something that would enable a rescuer to act immediately…in seconds you can scan an area and go.”

Some startups evolve from the founder’s garage. Our startup began in Carlyn’s bathtub, testing ideas in the most convenient (and warm) body of water. She quickly became obsessed with finding a solution to the problem, AquaEye started to evolve and VodaSafe was founded.

Several years removed from bathtub testing, VodaSafe has 3 employees, an office, and most importantly a small lab. Carlyn’s solution starts to see traction amongst industry experts, with the Lifesaving Society of Ontario purchasing the very first units and providing valuable stakeholder input. Investors also jump onboard, keen to invest in the promising idea with high societal impact.

AquaEye was originally intended for summer camps, providing young lifeguards with a simple, easy-to-use tool for quick water rescues. However, it quickly became clear that AquaEye’s capabilities extended far beyond lifeguards and camps, proving invaluable for a wide range of rescue and recovery operations.

AquaEye locates a drowning victim in 5 minutes after divers had searched for 16 hours in dangerous conditions. Ather this, AquaEye begins to pick up steam, with the Lifesaving Society of Ontario (LSS) purchasing 100 more units to sell to lifeguards and teams across North America. AquaEye supports LSS’s mandate to prevent drowning and they are very interested in getting one in the hands of all water rescue teams for the greatest impact. Fire rescue teams quickly see the potential of AquaEye and become our largest customer segment.

AquaEye goes worldwide. Our first large international sale occurs when BASARNAS, the Indonesian search and rescue department makes a large investment by ordering an AquaEye for each of its water rescue teams. BASARNAS will end up with over 140 AquaEye spread across the island archipelago.

AquaEye furthers its international expansion, selling to dealers in Europe, South America and Asia. At this point 580 AquaEye have been sold around the world with 195 customers in North America. AquaEye had been used to find 33 missing people, bringing closure to their families and keeping the search team out of the water for longer. While our mission was being executed around the world, recognition begin to pour in. VodaSafe wins BC Tech’s Startup Of the Year award against stiff competition.

Research, development, and epic amounts of testing begin for AquaEye Pro. A whole new algorithm is trained around a whole new data set (countless hours in the cold water for our data scientists) while the original AquaEye, AquaEye Lite continues to march around the world making a difference. Over 1000 AquaEye are in the hands of customers around the world with large clusters in Germany, Turkey, Vietnam and 400 in North America. We log our 100th documented found person, and we are just getting started.

AquaEye Pro marks a seismic shift in how fire departments will approach water rescue. Designed with speed of deployment and speed of search in mind, we are laser focused on providing rescuers with the solutions they need to save lives. Every missing person deserves the best chance at survival, and now, more than ever, we’re prepared to make that happen. But we’re just getting started. With more innovations in the pipeline, our goal is to develop technology that works seamlessly together—keeping heroes safe while helping them save even more lives. Stay tuned—big things are coming.