Company: Borrow A Boat, Zizoo
Business Type: Holiday & Travel, Vessel Charter
UK & International Business Sales and M&A News
Boat rental and yacht charter marketplace Borrow A Boat has acquired Zizoo, the German boat rental platform, as part of its 2024 growth strategy.
The acquisition of the boat rental platform by Borrow A Boat, part of The Boat Engine Group, is set to create one of the largest boating marketplaces worldwide, and will see it expand its offering to more than 60,000 boats in 65+ countries, covering all three key market segments in boat rentals including day hires, boating holidays and luxury crewed charters.
Matt Ovenden, Founder and CEO of Borrow a Boat, said:
“The boat rental market is one of the fastest growing travel segments and we’re on a mission to make boating more accessible to everyone – worldwide. The acquisition of Zizoo will create one of the biggest boating marketplaces in the world, with a global footprint, customer base and reach, allowing us to enhance our marketplace of exceptional boating experiences.
“By incorporating Zizoo’s own technology, teams and solutions, we will also be able to continue to deliver a high service offering for our industry colleagues who we work with on a daily basis.”
Matt Ovenden – Founder and CEO of Borrow a Boat
Zizoo, based in Berlin, is a boat rental marketplace for the holiday sector, and operates charters across the globe, including Croatia, Miami, the BVIs and Nassau.
Anna Banicevic, Co-Founder and CEO of Zizoo, said:
“The successful closing of the sale of Zizoo to Borrow A Boat’s group is good news for our industry colleagues and customers. Zizoo has gone through a tremendous growth journey over the years which also brought some operational challenges that culminated in the last few months in a tough funding environment and we believe this is an opportunity for a new journey with a player that shares our tech vision but also a goal of stability and customer-centricity.
“We believe that joining The Boat Engine Group will allow us to collaboratively create an even more powerful engine to drive change, innovation and amazing customer experiences in the industry and wider travel market. We are very much aligned with them and their mission to make boating as accessible and easy to access as it should be, for all.”
Anna Banicevic – Co-Founder and CEO of Zizoo
Borrow A Boat, with its HQ in London, was founded in 2017 and offers a variety of vessels to rent, including sailboats, motorboats, riverboats, RIBs, catamarans, gulets, luxury yachts and superyachts. The business purchased boat rental platforms including Barqo and Beds on Board before being acquired by Ovenden, plus a group of investors, in 2023.
Zizoo’s staff in Berlin and Athens will join Borrow A Boat’s respective teams in London and Amsterdam. Ovenden concluded:
“We understand as a consumer-facing business, this process may come with some questions for customers who have booked experiences for 2024 and beyond with Zizoo, however we want to reassure everyone that we will be doing our upmost to ensure minimum disruption on any existing bookings, and will have a dedicated team on hand to help field any enquiries or questions around those for Zizoo customers.”
Matt Ovenden – Founder and CEO of Borrow a Boat
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