Borrow A Boat exceeds target and raises £1m in 24 hours

Boat rental marketplace Borrow A Boat has raised over £1million through a crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs.

The UK-based company set out to raise £750,000 but exceeded that target within 24 hours, with the total currently standing at over £1.1m.

Borrow A Boat, which launched in 2017, previously raised £1.1million via a crowdfunding campaign on CrowdCube last November.

The company has made several acquisitions in recent months, including Amsterdam-based peer-to-peer boating marketplace Barqo and UK-based accommodation provider Beds on Board in early March 2022. .

Borrow A Boat, which was created to make boating more accessible, affordable and flexible, is one of many new entrants looking to take a slice of the estimated $30 billion global charter market from here 2027.

The company says it plans an IPO in 2023.

Matt Ovenden, Founder and CEO of Borrow A Boat, says: “We are experiencing a revolution in the markets and believe this should extend to the world of boating. Renting a boat should be as easy as booking a hotel, flight or train.

“As a company, we have made tremendous progress over the past six months – continuously breaking our all-time month-on-month sales records towards the end of 2021 and we are now, in 2022, consistently clearing a million a month in revenue.

“This Seedrs fundraising will help fuel our continued growth, with expansion into new countries – Italy, France, Germany and Spain – which we hope to complete by the end of the year. We will also invest in technology enhancements – substantial UI, UX and automation operator plans to keep pace with our rapidly growing business revenue.”