Seasy participated in the Yachting Ventures startup accelerator program (2020).
"Marina booking made easy" is what Seasy promises to offer. The startup has experienced a record summer - their number of active users is now at +200,000 (x3 higher than 2021) and the number of berth bookings facilitated through the platform is set to hit +10,000 in 2022.
Founder, Niklas Baumgartner explains, "The core is a networking platform between sailors and marinas, similar to Airbnb, allowing sailors to simply book a berth, often at a very short notice. With us you can get a berth in just 3 clicks for the best price, guaranteed."
Investors in this 7-figure round include existing investors Oliver Sikora (angel investor) and the VC firm Next Floor, as well as Alexander Schütz and Hans-Peter Haselsteiner - who both became aware of Seasy after watching Niklas Baumgartner pitch on the TV show "2 Minuten 2 Millionen" (similar to Dragons Den in the UK, or Shark Tank in the US).
Hans-Peter Haselsteiner's commented on his motives for the investment: "The sailing and yacht market has been booming for years. In this context, the Seasy team has convinced me and also proved, with this summer's record figures, they can be successful in this market. I’m pleased with their growth so far, even though Seasy is just at the beginning. Now it's time to continue working consistently step by step and to grow in a structured way in Europe and beyond. In any case, I am happy to be on board and to accompany Seasy with my team."
The Founders of Austria's unicorn platform GoStudent (Gregor Müller and Felix Ohswald) also joined the round. Gregor Müller commented: "Niklas Baumgartner is an incredibly passionate and committed entrepreneur. I myself come from a sailing family and therefore the topic is of course particularly close to my heart. With GoStudent, we have built a digital platform in a previously predominantly analog industry and therefore also see great potential for Seasy. We’re looking forward to continuing our journey together."
The Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG also participated in the round.
This is just the beginning of what will soon be a much more comprehensive platform for sailors, as Niklas Baumgartner describes: "Only so much can be revealed - for the next two seasons 2023 & 2024. Our users can look forward to another huge upgrade, with which we will raise ourselves to a completely new level, especially in terms of functionality. A hint - Google Maps for sailors, unfortunately I'm not allowed to say more yet."
At Yachting Ventures, we look forward to continuing to work with Seasy as they scale. There are around 4,500 coastal marinas in Europe (25,000 worldwide), so the potential is enormous - especially given the lack of online presence of many of the marinas.
Credit: Yachting Ventures