Slovakia doesn't have a coastline, but it does have Boataround. Here's what the company achieved in 2026

Slovak travel-tech platform Boataround, founded by former Booking.com executives Jana Escher and Pavel Pribiš, has reached a major milestone. After years of global expansion, the company has successfully turned profitable in the highly competitive boat rental market. Its success across Europe's most demanding markets confirms that a global player is emerging from landlocked Slovakia – one that investors can still back through private debt financing.

You can read the full interview with the founders online in Denníku N.

Slovakia may not have a coastline, but it is home to a technology company that makes it easy to charter yachts, catamarans and motorboats. Boataround is more than just a booking platform – it is a critical piece of infrastructure connecting boat owners with customers looking to rent them.

Boataround's story is a textbook example of how global experience can be transformed into a successful entrepreneurial venture. When its founders left their corporate careers at Booking.com, they had a clear vision: to modernise the fragmented, opaque and highly inefficient boat charter market by building a seamless, user-friendly platform.

The company's latest financial results show that this strategy is paying off. In the first quarter of 2026, Boataround strengthened its position across key Western European markets while delivering important financial milestones that mark the company's transition into its next stage of growth.

"These results confirm that Boataround has built a stable and sustainable business model that enables us to grow successfully even in the highly competitive Western European markets. From our headquarters in Bratislava, we operate a global technology platform trusted by customers across Europe," says Pavel Pribiš, Founder of Boataround.