The Yachting Ventures Startup Spotlight series goes beyond the pitch decks and press releases to share the real stories behind early-stage startups.

We sit down with founders in our community to explore their journeys, from the first spark of an idea to the realities of building a company in leisure marine.

This week, we sat down with Marco Colombo, co-founder of Rest-T.

What’s your story?

Years ago, I was in Finland with friends. They decided to go for a swim in the sea, but I didn’t feel comfortable enough to follow them, so I stayed on the beach.

At the time, there was no internet or mobile phones, so I just sat there thinking about what I could have done differently, i.e., how I might have joined them without feeling exposed, looking foolish, or being limited in what I could do in the water.

That moment stayed with me.

The idea later evolved from recognizing a simple contradiction: we already have life-saving equipment for water, yet people still drown, often because they’re not wearing it.

Existing solutions don’t align with how people actually behave in the water. That gap between safety and real-world use is what led me to start working on REST-T and rethink how protection should work.

Why does the industry need your solution?

Current solutions still force a trade-off between safety and usability. Life jackets tend to be bulky and restrictive, or they rely on simple triggers like water contact.

There is no system today that truly understands the user’s condition. A solution that activates only in real emergencies (especially for children or unconscious individuals) could significantly improve both adoption and effectiveness.

The real question is: why doesn’t something already exist that allows a child or an athlete to move freely in the water, fully protected, without wearing something intrusive or uncomfortable, and that can react autonomously when they are in difficulty?

Just like airbags or seatbelts in a car, safety should be there when you need it, without getting in the way when you don’t.

What have you enjoyed most about starting your own company?

Turning an idea into something tangible is incredibly rewarding;moving from identifying a problem to building prototypes, testing them, and watching the concept evolve into a real product.

Beyond that, what drives me is the constant opportunity to keep learning, to meet new people, and to experience new and interesting situations in life.

What challenges did you face at the beginning?

Getting started without a clear roadmap is one of the biggest challenges.

Navigating hardware development, regulatory requirements, and building the right technical approach all at once demands constant prioritization and continuous learning.

Early-stage uncertainty is always there.

And then, of course, there are a thousand other challenges – just like in any startup journey.

What’s next for your business?

The focus now is on refining the technology and validating it in real-world conditions.

In the next few years, the goal is to bring a reliable, market-ready product and establish Res-T as a reference for intelligent water safety, integrated into different use cases, from sports to everyday recreational use.

Any advice for entrepreneurs just starting out?

Start with the real problem, not the solution.

Talk to users early, test quickly, and don’t wait for perfect conditions (especially in hardware, progress comes through iteration, not planning alone).

At the same time, be aware of the level of complexity you’re choosing.

Building products that save lives, like life-saving equipment, brings technical and certification challenges that are easily ten times greater than those of a typical product.

A quote you live by:

Build something that works when people can’t.