Pavel Přibiš and Jana Escher want to use the Boataround to change the market for yacht reservations
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The Booking.com platform has changed the way users around the world buy hotel accommodation, and in the same way, the Czech-Slovak couple Pavel Přibiš and Jana Escher – who met just while working for Booking.com – want to change the global yacht booking market. For four years now, they have been building the Boataround platform, the further development of which has now been supported by Miton’s investment.
“The yacht rental market is ripe for change. There are not completely transparent providers, so the customer pays more as a result, and often burns out in terms of service, ” The Czech Pavel Přibiš describes the motivation that connected him with the Slovak Jana Escher in business.
“We mainly build boataround on transparency. All photos of yachts are up-to-date, some we even came to take pictures on the spot. We guarantee a refund in case of customer dissatisfaction and thanks to a direct link to the landlord and volume, we can offer the best price, ” lists the benefits of the platform, which, according to documented numbers, is also appreciated by customers.
In the course of this year alone, Boataround plans to mediate yacht rentals for half a billion crowns. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, which has had a significant negative impact on tourism, customers are proving to be interested in this type of accommodation, travel and experience in one go.
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Boataround startup team
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In recent weeks, the platform records a year-on-year increase in search of 500 percent, which is also due to significantly greater interest from newcomers, and in domestic destinations such as Lipno, Orlík, Slapy and Baťa’s canal, it is almost impossible to book a boat by the end of the holiday season.
“In the current situation, customers most often praise privacy, when they have a boat just for themselves and their friends. But also the price, because accommodation in Croatia, for example, costs 500 crowns per person per night in the case of an eight-member group, with many groups even cooking on a boat, ” zooms in Přibiš.
In foreign destinations, Czechs traditionally most often book sailboats in the aforementioned Croatia, where, together with Greece and Italy, Boataround offers the largest fleet of boats. There are a total of more than 14,000 vessels on the platform, in 900 locations on five continents.
As the Czech-Slovak goal is to go through global ambitions and works de facto all over the world, it is possible to make reservations in 26 language versions. And although the Czech, Slovak and Polish are still the most popular, Boataround is already experiencing the fastest growth today, especially in Germany and Austria.
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Milan Zemánek, partner of the Miton investment group
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Newly, the further development of “Booking for yachts” will be supported by the investment of the domestic group Miton, which was involved in the creation of domestic projects such as Slevomat, Dáme potravin, Rohlik.cz, Skrz or perhaps Heureka and invests 15 million crowns in Boataround.
Investment rounds totaling 40 million
“Thanks to my own experience, I know how the service that Boataround offers is needed in the market. In addition to finances, we also bring know-how with international marketing and the opening of new markets to the project, ” comments on the investment by Miton’s partner Milan Zemánek.
Boataround itself has its official headquarters in Slovakia and, according to the latest public data, in 2018 recorded revenues of 380 thousand euros (approximately 10 million crowns) with a loss of 404 thousand euros (less than 11 million crowns).
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Boataround global platform for ordering yachts
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However, Miton is not the first investor in the company, in two investment rounds a few years ago on the Crowdberry platform, Boataround received 350,000 euros, or another 800,000 euros, ie a total of around 25 million crowns. The total investment in Boataround is approximately 40 million crowns.
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