Equilinx

quilinx is an Internet marketplace for parts and equipment needed to maintain and repair large ships. Equilinx is still very much in the process of building its market, signing agreements with the major ship management companies, equipment suppliers, and with other players (distributors, communications providers) that are central to the task of building a worldwide, Internet marketplace for ship equipment. Equilinx has emerged as the leader in the competition to build such a marketplace. Its leadership is multidimensional and is built on the clarity and appeal of its business model, the maturity of its technical offer, and its depth of experience in the marine industry.

Fastwater began working with the founders of Equilinx in June of 1999, while they were employed as senior managers and marine consultants at Nichols Advanced Marine. Two of the founders had built a marine equipment database, used for new ship construction by the U.S. Navy. The focus of Fastwater's first meeting with what would eventually become the Equilinx team was on exploring the possibility of extending the database into the commercial sector. During that first meeting Fastwater was impressed by the depth of experience of the team and by the nature and size of the market opportunity. We were concerned about the initial approach to the market, however, and so began an engagement with the team that explored new, more profitable approaches to the marine equipment market.

By late summer we had done enough research into the size of the market and into the nature of current marine purchasing operations to know that building a marine equipment marketplace was a large opportunity. Fastwater assisted the Equilinx founders in building the business case to obtain initial seed funding. The Equilinx founders worked out an agreement by which they could leave Nichols Marine and pursue their new business, and Equilinx was born.

During the fall of 1999 Fastwater signed on as an extension to the core Equilinx management team, filling the positions of Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Business Development. On the business development side we began calling on ship management companies and equipment suppliers and going to industry trade shows, working closely with the marine specialists at Equilinx. Our focus here was twofold: we wanted to get the initial, critical group of first buyers on board, and we wanted to understand their problems and the market well enough to design an offer that would truly meet the needs of buyers and sellers.

On the technology side, serving as CTO, Fastwater led a team of developers to build the initial implementation of the marketplace. We also formed relationships with other key technology suppliers such as Commerce One and Vitria who provided critical elements of the marketplace infrastructure.

By the second quarter of 2000 Equilinx, with Fastwater's assistance, managed to attract the attention of leading companies in both the vertical Internet marketplace arena and in the ship management and infrastructure industries. Equilinx continues to build critical mass in its marketplace, signing agreements with the dominant ship management companies in the US and Europe. Fastwater's work is far from complete; we continue to lead the Equilinx technology efforts and continue to consult with the company on business issues.

The Equilinx/Fastwater collaboration is a strong example of how Fastwater can help a company move more quickly. By bringing a variety of mature capabilities to the table to address the business, marketing, and technical needs of this young company, Fastwater helped Equilinx leap ahead of others in the market. Fastwater complemented the talents and special domain knowledge of the rest of the core Equilinx team to turn Equilinx into a leader. We brought perspective on the overall "marketplace for net marketplaces," we brought deep technical know how and can-do, and we brought the energy and insight to "find the handles" on this new business opportunity.

We are still working with Equilinx and the story continues. Check back for more news as Fastwater and Equilinx continue to work together to build a marine equipment marketplace.