AI ‘Jellyfishbot’ sea cleaner start-up eyes expansion with UK marine group

IADYS, the start-up company behind a sea-cleaning marine drone named the Jellyfishbot, has announced plans to expand into the United Kingdom with its new exclusive partner, P&D Marine Group. 

IADYS develops artificial intelligence and robotic products in service of the environment and is based on the Mediterranean coast near Marseille. It recently introduced the ‘Jellyfishbot’ sea-cleaning marine drone to the UK market.

Nicolas Carlési, founder and CEO, says: “We are thrilled to be partnering with P&D Marine Group and counting them among our distributors. The British government is taking strong measures in terms of reduction and recycling of plastic packaging waste with the Environment Bill 2019-2021, which should be applied before the end of the year. This is why it seemed essential for us to offer, as of now, our clean up solution to this market fully engaged in its ecological transition. We have no doubt that our partnership with P&D Marine Group will be fruitful and will help us to quickly implement our Jellyfishbot solution in the United Kingdom.” 

Since its inception in 2016, IADYS has expanded internationally. The start-up developed the Jellyfishbot – a compact and robust robot, which collects autonomously or remotely the waste and the hydrocarbons on the surface of water bodies. It’s designed to clean up harbours, industrial and touristic areas.

With almost 40 robots in service, the Jellyfishbot has operated in Cassis, Cannes, Saint-Tropez, Marseille, Ajaccio, Calvi, La Turballe and Cherbourg marinas, as well as Haropa Port, the commercial port of Le Havre, the Saint-Nazaire shipyard, the Chantiers de l’Atlantique and the MB92 La Ciotat shipyard. According to IADYS, the robot has also been adopted by private companies dedicated to waste collection such as Monaco Sanitation company and Dronaquatech in Dunkerque, and by companies specialised in industrial sites’ depollution such as Serpol or Tapir.

With its current network of distributors in Japan, Singapore, Finland, and Norway, in addition to the network operating on the French market, IADYS turned to P&D to expand its solution in the UK, strengthening its position on international markets.

Neill Walker, group business development manager for P&D Marine Group, comments: “P&D Marine Group recognised the importance of the environmental impact our industry has on our waterways and with more and more projects being developed by the group to address this, we believe it was the right time to challenge ourselves to make a real difference.

“P&D Marine Group have recently appointed Marie Vockins as their new Group Environmental Projects Manager who has been tasked to head up our environmental projects, such as the new Jellyfishbot, our autonomous bot for removing macro-waste, oil spills, paint dusts, and micro-plastics from our waterways, and for the group to look at our own environmental impact when carrying out a project for our clients. We believed we needed an innovative approach and aim to bring more environmental products and services to the markets we operate in the Jellyfishbot being the first for us in the UK.”

A few days after the end of the COP26 in Glasgow, the two companies both involved in the fight against pollution and the preservation of the coastline are sending a strong message. 

IADYS is currently having discussions with distributors in Australia, the Middle East, North Africa, New Zealand, the USA and Canada. 

“We are confident for the end of 2021 and the coming 2022, the covid crisis is now finally behind us. We expect to reach our target of 50 robots ordered by the end of the year, and the order book for 2022 is already filling up day by day,” concludes Carlési.