Miami-based Boatsetter, which claims to be the world’s only legally compliant and insured peer-to-peer boat rental platform, secured $38 million in a Series B round after seeing heavy activity on the Tampa Bay Market.
New York-based Level Equity led the Series B round. Boatsetter previously raised a $10 million Series A round in 2019.
“This funding will play an important role in allowing us to grow our team in the Tampa Bay area, provide more accessible and affordable boating and on-water experiences, and continue to invest in our mobile capabilities. and digital…” Rachel West, president of Boatsetter, said in a statement regarding the local impact.
Boatsetter’s platform, which launched commercially in 2014, is similar to home-sharing platform Airbnb, but for boat owners. It offers private boat owners a safe and legitimate way to list their boats and manage bookings. It also offers new boaters the opportunity to hire a professional captain to accompany them during their charter through the Boatsetter Captain Network.
The newly raised funds come as Boatsetter has had a big boom in Tampa-St. St. Petersburg market with over 147% growth in all rentals year-over-year, driven by 184% year-over-year growth in fishing boat rentals and charters in the same market.
“Tampa Bay has been the fastest growing Florida market outside of Miami due to our expanded fishing experiences and affordable two- to three-hour boating options suited for the influx of tech-savvy professionals and millennials, who make up our customer base. . We have also seen increasingly affluent business owners and executives prefer Boatsetter Lux who offer concierge services for our mid to high end yacht charters,” said West.
To date, Boatsetter has over one million users and 50,000 boat listings in 700 locations across the United States, the Caribbean, Mexico and the Mediterranean. In 2017, the company partnered with Geico and BoatUS to launch the first-ever peer-to-peer boat rental insurance policy. It also acquired several of its competitors.
Boatsetter executives said they are currently planning further market expansions in Jacksonville, Orlando, Fort. Myers and in the lakes of Georgia and the Carolinas. They shared that the secret to their success is having a landlord product and mobile app that makes it easy for entrepreneurial-minded boat owners and operators to earn money by providing them with qualified renters. and managing logistics.
“Our goal is to become the most trusted platform for on-demand boating and enable incredible experiences on the water globally and possibly go public. [Initial Public Offering] over the next five years,” Boatsetter CEO and co-founder Jackie Baumgarten said in a statement.
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