Skipperi funded by a group of boating industry professionals and influencers

Late 2017, Skipperi has closed a funding round to strengthen position in Finland as the "Airbnb for boats" and start international expansion. Skipperi is now backed by a group of boating industry professionals and influencers bringing valuable experience and a vast network with them.

Boat sharing platform Skipperi already gained ground in Finland and will now also start in Sweden. Peer to peer boat rental platform Skipperi made a successful first phase funding round. Objectives for the round were fulfilled and Skipperi heads towards the upcoming season with a sales and marketing fund of 230 000 €. HP Capital, Stefanie Brandt-Tallqvist a member of the board of Otto Brandt, and brothers Forsman who own Blue Peter and Faro seaside restaurants in Helsinki. HP Capital's Hans Ahlström sees Skipperi as one of sharing economy's rising influencers. "I think sharing economy is one the great phenomena of the future and Skipperi with its team and know-how is quite a potential player in this field". Stefanie Brandt-Tallqvist as well as Ville ja Jussi Forsman have grown and created their working careers around boating. "Sharing economy is coming and we want to be onboard. In a very short period Skipperi's team has shown great drive in making the sharing phenomenon real and usable", says Stefanie. Skipperi's founders are especially excited about investors' backgrounds and networks. In addition to private funding Skipperi was granted blue economy top project funding by Center for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment. Previously Skipperi has received funding from among others TEKES (Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation).

Skipperi was launched in the spring of 2017 in Finland and later in the Summer in Sweden. Skipperi's aim is to get more people out on the water and less boats lying around unused in harbours. "In Finland and Sweden boats are lying more than 90% of the season in the harbor, whilst there are plenty of people without boats that want to get on the water" says co-founder of Skipperi Kristian Raij. Skipperi was warmly received by both boat owners and renters, "we quickly realized that there is a demand for such a service and some had even been waiting for it. Boating habits have changed over the past decades but the boating industry has been quite slow in responding to these new needs. There is a clear need for new flexible services" says Kristian. Skipperi makes renting a boat easy and reliable for both parties. All Skipperi users go through strong authentication when signing up and all payments are handled by Skipperi. Boat owners decide for themselves whom to rent their boat and renters know-how can be easily understood via Skipperi's boating-CV.

Skipperi's theme for the coming season is to make boating easy for everyone. New services beside the rental will be launched to live up to this. Also in the pipeline is the opening of a third-country by the end of the year 2018.