25-year-old develops paddle board rental station with Solid Edge.
Siemens has sponsored this post.
Playa-Rent’s concept is simple: Hit the beach, grab your paddleboard and play! Playa-Rent offers a paddle board rental system right on the beach where you can sign a liability form, pay with a credit card, throw your belongings in a locker, grab your gear and go. The station offers everything you need to hit the water, including a life jacket, paddle and paddleboard, which is equipped with a GPS tracker for safety.
Playa-Rent is the clever creation of 25-year-old water sports enthusiast, entrepreneur, engineer and businessman Nicolas Roche. Currently he has one station available on the La Noëveillard beach in Pornic, France, where he lives.
Roche holds an engineering degree, and says, “I chose to study engineering because I’ve always been drawn to technical devices and electronics.” He also has a master’s degree in business administration. After a short stint designing pumps for the oil and gas industry, he started Playa-Rent in 2023, combining his interest in mechanical design and love of water sports.
“My goal for the business was to simplify the process for paddleboard rentals, which is typically a time-consuming process at other outlets in France, requiring a reservation and paperwork and the means to transport the gear, which can be a hassle — especially when people are on vacation,” Roche says. “I also wanted to make the sport more accessible, as paddleboards can be expensive and you also have to haul and store them.”
The rental fee for the Playa-Rent system goes for a reasonable 15€ Euros an hour (approx. USD$16.10) and renters must be 18 or older, or be accompanied by an adult.
Roche’s operation consists of himself as chief executive officer (CEO) and designer, in addition to his chief technology officer (CTO) Julien Duprat. Additionally, he partners with TAHE (formerly BIC Sport), who supplies the surfboards and has the physical steel structures of the system manufactured by SERMOP in Laval. He uses Solid Edge software to design the station structures and components, including electrical systems, and the GPS device. The rest of its components come from suppliers.
Roche was introduced to Solid Edge during college when starting his business, so it was an easy decision to go with Solid Edge and the Solid Edge for Startups program, which provides eligible startups with free access to a complete solution for product development, including CAD, CAM and CAE software for a limited time.
Roche said Solid Edge was easy to learn and navigate through. “The interface is easy to understand. Every function, every tool, every button is easy to understand and help me make a design decision.”
He uses Siemens’ cloud-based collaboration solution Teamcenter Share for sharing data, data storage and data management, and said he can easily share a 3D model with his industrial partner so they can make the necessary changes to ensure the boards fit the rental station.
Roche also designs the PVC plastic components and 3D prints them as functional parts for the station. Eventually, he’d like incorporate Siemens CAM Pro and fully manufacture the stations.
Siemens’ partner Fealinx has provided valuable support to Roche and Playa-Rent since early in its inception. “We advised Nicolas on the best modules adapted to Playa-Rent’s needs, including data sharing, realistic rendering, and virtual reality of products on the beaches of French cities,” says Sébastien Debeix, Director of Strategic Development and Communication at Fealinx.
The support Fealinx provides to start-ups using Solid Edge and the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio is a strategic move in preparing for the future industrialization of France.
“Since its inception, Fealinx has been helping young companies and start-ups to structure themselves with the best digital solutions in order to get off to a good start with their innovative projects,” Debeix says. Fealinx shares beneficial experience gleaned from thousands of companies, providing advice to start-ups from the very beginning of their business and enabling them to focus on their true value: innovation.
What’s next for Playa-Rent
In 2023, Roche designed and released the first station. He is now working on the next design iteration and is aiming to produce three more stations in 2024. For now, he’s concentrating on France and Europe, and eventually hopes to expand in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
This is just the start for Roche, and he dreams big with plans to offer kayak rental stations someday, as well. He even said maybe one day he’ll bring a kayak station to New Mexico.
His advice for other startups is to take advantage of the resources available, such as the Solid Edge for Startups program; to work hard to get investors and see what support your state may offer; and ultimately, to “trust in your projects and move forward, and don’t be afraid at the beginning of critics.”
Visit their company page for more information about Playa-Rent. To learn more about the Solid Edge for Startups program, visit Siemens.
