Kayakfirst Ltd. Expands Production Capacity in Szeged

Kayakfirst Ltd., a manufacturer of sports equipment for the indoor imitation of kayak-canoe sports, is expanding its capacity with EU and national support in Szeged, SE Hungary the company informed the state news agency MTI.

The company has won HUF 209.2 million in conditionally reimbursable subsidies for the HUF 300 million investment, which will be completed by the first quarter of 2023. With the development, Kayakfirst, which has been operating largely with the involvement of subcontractors and mostly only carries out assembly within its own plant, can take a significant step towards strategic independence by acquiring the most important machining equipment for its activities.

The investment is expected to result in lower unit costs and increased productivity that will contribute to the company's already significant exports, which account for around 95 % of sales. The company is also installing a renewable energy cooling and heating system at its Szeged site to support sustainable operations.

The company was founded by József Weimper, himself an active kayaker. The device he developed takes up less space, imitates the sensation of holding water during training and is easy to use with a touch screen display.

This ergometer is suitable for canoeing, kayaking and SUP and has been exported to 60 countries, with many Olympic and world champions among its users, including Bálint Kopasz, Olympic champion in the 1000m K1 in Tokyo, and Péter Kiss, Paralympic champion in the 200m KL1 in Tokyo.

Resellers account for 40% of the approximately 600 pieces of sports equipment produced by the company each year, while private individuals make up the same proportion of customers and 20% are sold to federations and sports associations. József Weimper is confident that, once the project is completed and the war in Ukraine is over, they will be able to return to the double or triple growth of previous years.