Wave Loch

What Wave Loch does

Wave Loch LLC is a privately held, founder-led engineering company headquartered in San Diego that designs and supplies artificial wave generation systems and branded surf entertainment venues. Founded in 1989 by Tom Lochtefeld, the company built its reputation on the FlowRider sheet-wave platform and the larger FlowBarrel barreling-wave system, both of which use thin sheets of water flowing over a padded convex surface, with the FlowBarrel injecting water at roughly 45 km per hour up a curved face to create curling waves up to ten feet high. After divesting the FlowRider product line to WhiteWater West Industries in February 2014, Wave Loch shifted its development effort toward stationary surf pool technology marketed under the SurfLoch WaveSystems brand, while continuing to sell FlowBarrel attractions, the compact Wave-in-a-Box variants, and a portable Mobile FlowRider (MoFlow) unit.

The company monetizes through three streams: direct hardware sales of FlowBarrel, FlowCurl, FlowRider Mobile, Wave-in-a-Box, and SurfLoch surf pool systems to enterprise buyers such as waterparks, theme parks, resorts, hotels, cruise lines, and dedicated surf parks; licensing of proprietary wave generation patents and the Wave House venue brand to operator-franchisees in markets including San Diego, Singapore, Mallorca, Zaragoza, Durban, and Santiago; and design, engineering, and consulting services for surf park developers. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed because each installation is custom-engineered to the host venue.

Wave Loch serves a global B2B customer base that has included Royal Caribbean, Six Flags Great America, Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort, Sunway Lagoon, Happy Magic Watercube Waterpark in Beijing, Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Center, and the Pono Group-developed Palm Springs Surf Club. Distribution is a mix of direct enterprise sales, a Wave House franchise/licensed-operator model, and promotional MoFlow rentals staged at fairs and events, supported by trade show presence at IAAPA and the World Waterpark Association Expo, a content blog, social media, earned media, and a sponsored competition circuit organized with the Flowboarding League of the World. The company holds five granted US patents covering wave generation technology and registered trademarks for FlowRider, FlowBarrel, Wave House, and SurfPool, and operates with a small employee base of one to ten people.

Name

Wave Loch

Legal name

Wave Loch, LLC

Website

https://waveloch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Wave Loch LLC designs and supplies artificial wave generation systems, including the FlowRider, FlowBarrel, and SurfLoch WaveSystems platforms, selling custom-engineered equipment and licensing the Wave House venue brand to waterparks, resorts, cruise lines, and surf parks worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Artificial Wave Generation Equipment

NAICS

Amusement Parks and Arcades (7131), Amusement and Theme Parks (71311)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Water Parks (THAAAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Outdoor Water Parks (Wave Pools, Lazy Rivers, Slides) (THAAABAA), Surf, Kitesurf & Wind Sports Adventures (THAJABAK)

Keywords

• Artificial wave technology
• Wave generation equipment
• Flowboard attractions
• Surf pool systems
• Waterpark attractions

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Wave Machine Sales: Sale of FlowRider and FlowBarrel wave generation equipment to waterparks, resorts, hotels, and entertainment venues. After selling FlowRider product line to WhiteWater West Industries in 2014, company focused on SurfPool technology and FlowBarrel products.
2. Licensing and Technology: Licensing of proprietary wave generation technology and patents for surf park installations worldwide.
3. SurfPark Consulting: Design, engineering, and consulting services for surf park development projects.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Wave Loch designs, manufactures, and licenses proprietary artificial wave generation systems for the water-based attractions industry. Its core offerings include FlowRider sheet-wave attractions, FlowBarrel barreling-wave systems, and SurfLoch stationary surf pool technology, sold or licensed to waterparks, resorts, hotels, cruise lines, and entertainment venues worldwide. The company also operates the Wave House branded entertainment venue concept combining its wave attractions with hospitality and retail.

Product overview

Wave Loch LLC is a world leader in surfing wave technology, specializing in artificial wave generation systems for attractions and surf parks. The company offers two main product families: the FlowBarrel and FlowRider sheet-wave attractions for waterparks and entertainment venues, and the SurfLoch WaveSystems for surf pool applications. The FlowRider line includes various configurations (Single, Double, Junior, Mobile, and Wave-in-a-Box variants) creating sheet waves for flowboarding. The FlowBarrel series produces larger barrel waves reaching up to 10 feet. Wave Loch also licenses the Wave House venue concept which combines these attractions with hospitality and entertainment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• FlowBarrel Five Surf attraction creating sheet waves for flowboarding at a moderate wave height, suitable for intermediate riders, installed at waterparks and entertainment venues.
• FlowBarrel Ten Larger surf attraction creating sheet waves reaching heights of up to 10 feet for advanced flowboarding and barrel riding, targeted at premium venues and competition use.
• FlowBarrel Double Dual FlowBarrel attraction allowing two simultaneous flowboarding experiences for higher-throughput venues.
• FlowCurl Surf attraction generating curling wave patterns for flowboarding as part of the company's wave attraction portfolio.
• FlowRider Single Single-person wave attraction generating sheet waves for surfing simulation, originally manufactured by Wave Loch and now produced and distributed by WhiteWater West Industries under the 2014 sale.
• FlowRider Double Dual-person wave attraction with two side-by-side FlowRider sheets enabling simultaneous use at higher-traffic venues.
• FlowRider Junior Smaller-scale FlowRider designed for younger or beginner riders as an entry-level configuration in the FlowRider family.
• FlowRider Mobile (MoFlow)

Named customers13 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered major, core, flagship and minor.

• WhiteWater West IndustriesmajorOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerIn February 2014, Wave Loch sold their world-leading FlowRider sheet-wave product to WhiteWater West Industries. This was a significant transaction that shifted Wave Loch's focus to surf pools after the sale. WhiteWater now manufactures and distributes the FlowRider product line.
• Surf LochcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSurf Loch is Wave Loch's sister company headed by CEO Tom Lochtefeld. Surf Loch is focused on surf pool technology and was featured in LA Times coverage of surf pool industry. Delivered first barrels at Palm Springs Surf Club test facility.
• Pono GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPono Group, led by professional surfers Cheyne Magnusson and Kalani Robb, is developing the Palm Springs Surf Club. SURFLOCH delivered first barrels at this test facility using the new technology development by Pono Group.
• Puerto VeneziaflagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPuerto Venezia is Europe's largest retail and leisure destination in Zaragoza, Spain. Wave House Zaragoza is anchored at this 206,000 square meter complex, creating a flagship European showcase for Wave Loch technology.
• Flowboarding League of the World (FLOW)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFLOW is the governing body for flowboarding competitions organized by Wave Loch. Company sponsors and supports FLOW Tour events, World Flowboarding Championships, and International FLOW Championships. Riders compete at Wave House venues worldwide.
• Rick Davis Promotions Inc.minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPromotional partner for Mobile FlowRider (MoFlow) touring events. Organized 2009 MoFlow tour across Canada including Capital Ex in Edmonton and Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Kelly Slater Wave Company: Surfing-legend-backed developer of high-performance stationary surf pools backed by the Slater brand; competes with SurfLoch for premium surf-park projects where wave quality and athlete endorsement are key criteria.
• WhiteWater West Industries: Acquired Wave Loch's FlowRider product line in February 2014 and now manufactures and distributes it, making WhiteWater the direct incumbent in sheet-wave attractions; operates in the same waterpark and entertainment-venue customer set globally.
• American Wave Machines: US-based developer of surf-pool technology including the PerfectSwell system; directly competes with SurfLoch in stationary surf pools and was the opposing party in Wave Loch's USPTO-validated patent suit, making it the closest legal and product peer.
• Wavegarden: Spanish developer of artificial wave technology (Wavegarden Cove and Lagoon) for inland surf parks; competes head-to-head with SurfLoch for surf-pool development deals and has multiple operating installations globally.

Emerging players

• Surf Lakes: Australian developer of a concentric-wave surf-pool technology; is an earlier-stage peer with partial feature overlap to SurfLoch's stationary surf-pool offering and target customer overlap with surf-park developers.
• Aquatic Development Group: Designer and builder of wave pools and water-based attractions; partners with Endless Surf to deliver surf-pool systems and competes with SurfLoch for surf-park engineering and construction work.

Broad incumbents

• Polin Water Parks: Turkish-based global manufacturer of waterpark slides and attractions; serves the same waterpark developer customers and competes for the same attraction-budget dollars as Wave Loch's wave-attraction family.
• ProSlide Technology: Large Canadian water ride and attraction manufacturer serving the same global waterpark and resort customer set; competes for capital budgets at waterpark customers who choose between slides and FlowRider/FlowBarrel-style attractions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/waveloch
• Facebookfacebook.com/wavelochfanpage
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wave-loch-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wave Loch