Slovakia’s Boataround gets €1.2 million investment from Crowdberry investors and CB Investment Management fund

Slovak company Boataround, among the world's leading online boat-rental reservation portals, received growth investment worth €1.2 million from investors on the Crowdberry investment platform and a fund managed by CB Investment Management. The investment will help Boataround move into new markets and paves the way for international Series A financing, as the company looks to become the global leader in its segment.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought the company unprecedented dynamism and opportunities for accelerated growth. Boataround doubled its revenues in 2020 and is exceeding its own ambitious plans by more than one-third this year. Boataround is now the fastest-growing online boat-rental operator in Europe, and is ranked among the top two in Europe and top four in the world.

Since initially joining the Crowdberry platform and thanks to an investment from the Miton fund, Boataround has succeeded in building the largest wholly owned catalogue with approximately 24,000 vessels in more than 1,300 destinations in 70 countries (with support in local languages). In 2021, Boataround plans to make more than 7,000 reservations with a total value of €25 million. Industry experts expect the market for boating vacations to grow at least 50% faster than any other segment in the travel industry in the coming years. Boataround is prepared for such growth and plans to further strengthen its worldwide market position.

“The company’s Czech-Slovak founders, Jana Escher and Pavel Pribiš, have built up a leading online boat-rental reservation system. The clever team of founders and their healthy ambition and use of growth capital clearly illustrate, in the context of Boataround’s story, that globally successful companies are emerging in Slovakia. The coronavirus pandemic has had a particularly negative impact on the travel industry, but Boataround has sailed through it with strong growth (even at the expense of its paralysed competitors) and its goal of becoming the global leader is within reach. With respect to its extraordinary results and new market opportunities, we see this goal as achievable and we are very pleased to have the opportunity to be a part of this story together with our investors,” says Branislav Hóz, investment manager at Crowdberry.

“Today the door is open for Boataround and we are going after a larger global share of the market. Our search engine is used by customers almost everywhere in the world and we are glad that Crowdberry was able to bring a lot of high-quality investors into the project from the very beginning,” says Pavel Pribiš, co-founder and CEO of Boataround.

The purpose of the investment in the volume of €1.2 million is to finance the expansion of the database of boats, expansion to new markets, reinforcement of the team with key people and preparation for international Series A financing.