Click&Boat is an intermediary company between travelers, boat enthusiasts, and owners of boats. Hence, the company is an online service that establishes communications between customers and businesses. The company’s affiliated boat owners have a combined total of more than 35,000 boats.
Moreover, the company’s services are available in over 600 destinations worldwide, spanning 50 countries, and it has a community base of 400,000 members. Some of the aforementioned 50 countries include the USA, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, Greece, Poland, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden
Moreover, customers can rent boats as diverse as yachts, sailboats, motorboats, catamarans, RIBS, and houseboats. Additionally, the company caters to customers’ needs according to their profiles, interests, and budgets.
The company’s search engine allows filtering of services according to price, boat size, boat manufacturers, capacity, and the number of cabins.
The company’s success and expansion can be associated with two factors. Firstly, customers receive greater value for money because hiring boats through the company’s platform costs much less than the alternatives. Secondly, boat owners get to offset their maintenance costs, and so greater profit is made.
Also, the company’s rental service makes it optional to hire a captain; in this way, boat enthusiasts get a greater boating experience. It is because of all these reasons that CNN has described the company as the “Air-BNB of the Seas”.
Co-founded by Edouard Gorioux and Jeremy Bismuth, Click&Boat began its operations in September 2013 in Paris, France. The online services then began to operate in December of the same year. The company’s first major success came in November 2016, when the France-based company, Sailsharing, was acquired for 1 million euros. With increasing profits and a rising customer base, the company was able to expand its operations to include the USA.
Hence, in February 2017, online services became available to US customers, and in November of the same year, American boat owners were able to offer their services on the online website. Then, in consideration of market trends, the company launched its mobile application in May of 2018.
Seeking to establish itself in the global market, the company raised an investment of 4 million euros in June of 2018. As a result of this capital procurement, the company Ocean Evasion, along with its various travel agencies, was acquired in June 2019.
This trend of booming expansion continued into the year 2020; in March, the company’s German competitor, Scansail, was bought. And then, in July of the same year, the company’s most fierce competitor, the Spain-based Nautal, was conglomerated into its own operations. Since its inception in Paris, the company has undergone considerable growth, so now it has offices in Boulogne-Billancourt, Marseille, and Orient in France.
Globally, the company has offices in Barcelona, Spain, and Hamburg, Germany. With 150 professionals in its employment, the company looks forward to furthering prosperity in the future.
Click&Boat’s foundation was laid down by two French sailing enthusiasts, Edouard Gorioux (Brittany) and Jeremy Bismuth (Marseille). Both of these visionaries desired easier accessibility for sailing services. Moreover, the market need for online and easily accessible boat rental services was identified after observing various unused boats lying in French ports. Both the co-founders believed that their idea would make better use of the idle boats to benefit both sailors and boat owners.
The company wishes to provide its various customers with boating services that cater to their tailored needs. Whether it is for just traveling, vacationing, or maybe even for purposes of adventure-seeking, the company makes sure that its clients get the experience they desire, within the budget they have, and whether a license is in their possession or not.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, the company feels that the joys of sailing and traveling on the water should still be accessible to the general public. However, the company desires that its customers, along with those relishing in the joys of sailing, practice necessary precautions; this way, trips and getaways can be both fun and safe.
Learning from past experiences, the company targets further expansion through acquisitions. Hence, investors will continue to play a vital role in the company’s future. Other than investments, the company aims to form a strong collaboration between its leadership positions so that business growth can be both organic and external.
Message to Customers:
With the travel restrictions brought about by the pandemic, it is essential to stay positive about the future. In 2021, there is hope that adventures and the thrills of sailing will once again flourish and be a possibility!
