A Dorset boating navigation company founded by a former Google software engineer has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds hours after launching a crowdfunding campaign.
Bournemouth-based savvy navvy secured more than £800,000 on investment platform Seedrs.
It’s the fourth time business has smashed its crowdfunding targets - and the company is predicting another growth year with the leisure boating market set to continue its boom in 2022.
READ MORE: {}
Savvy navvy was founded in 2017 by avid sailor Jelte Liebrand, who describes the app as the “Google Maps for boats”.
His idea was to simplify boating navigation and he co-founded the business with Kevin O’Neill after receiving backing from founders of game-based learning platform Kahoot.
The app has since had more than 43 million miles plotted by its hundreds of thousands users globally.
“I’m blown away by the support and it’s incredible how quickly we have overfunded, and continue to overfund, during this round,” said Mr Liebrand.
“Our vision from the outset has been for savvy navvy to be in every boater’s pocket, supporting both new and experienced boaters on the water and there is a real appetite to join us in this.”
Most Read
According to Mr Liebrand, in 2021 the company set out to gain 15,000 paying subscribers and it “blew past that target” at the end of the summer.
The company, which has raised £1.8m since 2019, is now used by boaters in more than 100 countries around the world and has seen a "particularly huge boost" in North America, Norway and Sweden in the last quarter, the firm said.
"With the boating boom surpassing even our own projections, we will continue to keep the funding round open for as long as possible to give everyone the opportunity to own a piece of savvy navvy. What a way to start 2022,” added Mr Liebrand.
“We are actively shaping the marine industry for the better and challenging the bigger navigation apps in the market. We’re pulling the technology out of the dark ages and making it possible for more people to enjoy this boating boom with safe and easy marine navigation solutions."