A little over two years ago, Adam Allore unveiled his boating navigation app at a local home and garden show.

Those were very early days for his new business under the name Wavve, Allore says.

“At that point in time we’d been around for about two weeks, so the garden and boat show was just an opportunity to get the idea out there and see if anyone’s interested.”

The name has been expanded to Wavve Boating and the features in the app have grown as well.

The original concept remains the same, which is to make navigating simpler.

The app uses Canadian and U.S. government chart data and allows boaters to personalize the maps.

Waterways that are too shallow for your boat show up in red, says Allore.

“A Sea-Doo or personal watercraft can go closer to shore than a sailboat, so on the Sea-Doo’s map for boating you’re going to have less red shaded bodies of water telling them where not to go.”

Users can also share information from their maps, like the location of boat ramps or hazards that can vary depending on water levels, says Allore.

“A dock, for example, which was never a danger before is now submerged, so we’ve had users actually mark their docks on our map just to warn any boaters in that area.”

Allore says with more than 50,000 downloads, his startup is drawing attention and praise.

“We’re nominated as the best new technology product at the Newport International Boat Show, Apple has promoted us as one of the new apps they love.”

The app has a free tryout period and if users like it they can choose between a monthly or annual subscription, and Allore hints there will be more announcements to come.

“We’ve got some really interesting partnerships coming up online later this year that we’ll be super excited to announce.”

Allore says some of the greatest consumer growth for his app has been in the U.S.

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