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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Finnish startup raises €7M to make boating more accessible, affordable and easier

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Helsinki-based boat rental brokerage service Skipperi has collected €7 million in funding led by Yamaha Motor with the participation of Baltiska Handels Sverige, Matu Capital and HP Capital. The startup develops easy and sustainable ways to make boating accessible and affordable for everyone. Skipperi intends to use the funding for the development of the platform and its expansion plans in Australia and the United States.

Owning and maintaining a boat is often too expensive, and therefore many do not get to enjoy boating as often as they would like. Skipperi wants to make boating easy, affordable and effortless. The company offers two different services, which help more and more people get into the water safely.

Skipperi Fleet is an application-based boat-sharing service where members can use more than 400 boats in six different countries for a seasonal monthly fee. The introduction of the Fleet service does not require a separate registration fee, i.e. members only pay fuel costs in addition to the monthly fee. Skipperi Rent is a peer-to-peer rental service where boat owners can rent their boats to other qualified boaters.

Skipperi, founded by Anna-Leena Raij and Kristian Raij, wants to bring more women into the boating hobby. There are more female boaters than men in the membership, and Skipperi cooperates with women’s boating organizations, such as the Swedish She Captain.

“We want to make boating more accessible and ensure that there is room for everyone in the community. Boating has traditionally been seen as a time-consuming and expensive hobby. According to surveys, more than 53 percent of our members have joined the service because owning their own boat is too expensive. We want to get even more people safely on the water, and with the help of funding we can expand our operations to new markets” , says one of Skipperi’s founders, CEO Kristian Raij.

Booking a boat, entering the port and commissioning the boat can be done easily through the Skipperi app. Almost a third (73.5%) of Fleet service users initially signed up for the service because of its ease of use. At the end of the boating, the user must fill up the boat’s tank so that it is ready for the next user. The boats are equipped with different sizes of life jackets and necessary safety equipment.

Skipperi is responsible for boat maintenance, equipment, insurance and availability. To ensure the safety of boating, it offers training through the Skipperi Academy. In addition, all registrants must pass Skipperi’s boating test, or they must already have the required permits.

“We want to encourage beginners to bravely try boating. There is nothing to be ashamed of in practicing parking. Some boaters have a judgmental attitude towards beginners, which we definitely want to get rid of.” continues Raij. “


Skipperi is an important partner for us,” says Yamaha Motor’s Chief General Manager of Marine Business Operations Toshiaki Ibata. “Skipperi is the only company in the technology sector that has itself developed a functional digital platform that allows more and more people to enjoy boating. Boating clubs are too expensive and impractical for most people. We hope that our cooperation will continue and that the constantly developing sharing economy will be strengthened with our investment.”

Skipperi’s boats use geo-fences and artificial intelligence. Geo-fences can be used to warn users about shallow waters, speed limits, dangerous areas and protected areas. Geo-fences utilize the GPS signal of boat chartplotters, and the plotter notifies, for example, of non-compliance with the speed limit with a warning sound. Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, helps detect damage to the boat, which it notifies the maintenance staff about.

In 2022, more than 40,500 boat reservations were made through the Fleet service. The average driving time was 3.8 hours and the average distance was 16 nautical miles. Since Skipperi’s boats can be rented even for short trips, users are able to support local businesses in the archipelagos of the regions even better. The circular economy made possible by Skipperi also benefits the cities that have granted Skipperi berths in high demand, because with Skipperi hundreds of users can enjoy the use of the port instead of a single family.

Founded in 2017, Skipperi has raised a total of EUR 12.6 million in funding and currently operates in more than 40 locations in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, New Zealand and Canada.

Click to read more funding news.

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Nurcin Metingil
Nurcin Metingil
A permanent student, a passionate first reader and nowadays doing master’s degree in Publishing Management. Beside these, I am up for games! I have been playing games since I was 6. Now, I am whispering "Business. Business. Numbers. Is this working?"

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