Borrow A Boat smashes crowd funding targets

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Whether it’s the influence of shows like Below Deck or the trend towards luxury holidays, or even a combination of the two, one thing’s for sure — renting boats and booking charters are more popular than ever. The market is set to be worth an incredible $25 billion by 2027, and many different companies and brands are looking to get a piece of the space.

As a result the boat rental marketplace and charter industry are becoming hyper-competitive, with only those who can offer interesting solutions or something extra special coming out on top. A company who are definitely making a name for themselves in this saturated industry are Borrow A Boat.

Colloquially known as the ‘Airbnb’ of boats, Borrow A Boat is one of the leading yacht charter and boat rental marketplace, with an amazing 35,000 boat listing hosted across more than 65 countries around the world. The top destinations include the UK, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, North America and South East Asia. Reviewed highly in places like The Guardian, Boat International, Yachting World and Superyacht News, Borrow A Boat is definitely becoming one of the key players in the industry and continue to make big moves to the top.

What’s their story?

British company Borrow A Boat was launched back in 2017 by founder Matt Ovenden. A long time lover of boats and sailing, Matt is a successful serial entrepreneur as well as being a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanics and a Chartered Mechanical Engineer.

Having an MSc in Innovation and Design for Sustainability, Matt created Bright Green Shoots back in 2009 – a energy and sustainability company that works to help businesses and organisations embrace ‘green’ and sustainable innovation.

Through Bright Green Shoots Matt created two other companies. In 2011 he launched Free Wind ltd, a UK wind development company, and in 2014 he launched Free Island Energy, which works with remote renewables, microgrid and eco-island projects.

When Matt launched Borrow A Boat he was looking to solve a new challenge: how to get those who have been averse to yachting in the past, either because of it’s complexity in booking or the constraints that seven-day charters can have. In its first iteration as a peer-to-peer business, it became known as the Airbnb for yachting. Having quickly realised there were other opportunities, Matt and his team pivoted the business to also include traditional yachting suppliers which contributed to its explosive growth. At a similar time, Matt decided to also access the superyacht sector to appeal to the ultra elite or those who want the best in luxury yachting when it comes to their boating experience.

(Board discussing targets)

How have they grown so far?

Borrow A Boat have started their summer out well. In late June, the leading boat rental and yacht charter marketplace in the UK closed their most successful crowdfunding round ever, having raised and incredible £3,017,030 from over 650 investors.

This new raise brings the total of the business’ lifetime crowdfunding to over £7.8 million – impressive for a company that launched in 2017 and faced some challenges due to disruptions in global travel over the 2020 period. The largest ever crowdfund for Borrow A Boat, it exceeded it’s funding target by 402% – and has reinforced their position as one of the best in the business when it comes to the yachting and boating rental industry.

Borrow A Boat already had an incredibly successful year during 2022 when it came to growth in revenues. They expanded in a few other countries as part of this. They also acquired three competitors over the past twelve months. The first of these, Helm, allows users to build their perfect yachting holiday. Barqo, the second, seeks to make sailing a truly accessible experience by allowing its users to rent (and rent out) their boats. And beds on board is truly the Airbnb of boating, enabling users to rent beds on board of boats across the UK. These acquisitions go to show just how expansive – and dominant across the industry – that Borrow A Boat is planning to get.

What does this mean for Borrow A Boat and the industry?

The successful crowdfunding round shows just how well Borrow A Boat has been doing over the past few years and the support they’ve received from stakeholders shows the belief that many people have that the company will continue to thrive and succeed.

It’s success is important for consumers too; more people than ever will be able to access its services and enjoy the experience of renting a boat or chartering a yacht. It’s very likely that Borrow A Boat will continue to dominate and expand their offering as the industry continues to skyrocket and hit new heights all the way into 2027. It may be that we see new competitors rise up – but from the looks of things, Borrow A Boat is here to stay.