Sydney boat rental start-up Floatspace sets sail for Miami after big-name funding round

Online marketplace Floatspace has attracted a string of big names to invest as it prepares to enter the charter boat capital of Miami.

Hugh Treseder, left, with one of Floatspace’s investors, Mike Ford, at Manly Wharf in Sydney. Picture: Britta Campion

Online boat and watercraft marketplace Floatspace has closed a funding round that has attracted a string of big Australian technology names to invest in the fast-growing start-up that aims to become the household name for parties and events on the water.

Floatspace’s pre-Series A round gives the company a $12m valuation only four years after Sydney entrepreneur Hugh Treseder founded the company, and now counts the likes of Siteminder founder Mike Ford, Amaysim co-founder Rolf Hansen, Airtasker chief executive Tim Fund and Catapult chairman Adir Shiffman as shareholders.

Mr Treseder told The Australian the funds would be used to help Floatspace, currently predominantly based in Sydney and Queensland, to expand to Miami, a well-known boat charter market, and improve his company’s technology.

“We are developing innovations that will enable us to be truly the go-to for any event on the water. These cover payments, automation and initiatives will bring the most user-friendly and efficient platform for those looking to have fun on the water,” Mr Treseder said.

“We’re scaling our product and technology. Typically you go onto Google and you type in ‘boat rental’ and you’ll come up with 50 websites. So we’re trying to be the funnel there, with payment on the site, industry-first stuff like real-time availability and pricing with our proprietary software and some really cool payment innovation coming in to split costs among groups, for example.”

However, Mr Treseder’s big goal is for Floatspace to one day be considered the “Airbnb or Uber” for boats, and has identified 22 markets worldwide, including Croatia and Greece, where the business aims to expand to.

Mr Ford said he had noticed the boat sharing and rental space “has had less technology innovation than adjacent spaces like accommodation [and] has immense potential that can be unleashed through technology and product innovation”. He added: “Passionate founders like Hugh are just the ticket that this industry needs to unlock that potential.”

Mr Fung said he had been attracted to Floatspace because it was “bringing together a fragmented industry of boat owners and making it transparent for customers to access”.

Mr Hansen said when selecting his investments he was guided by three criteria: “The people behind the company, the disruptiveness and scalability of the business idea and the potential for sustainable, profitable growth. Floatspace combines them all.”

Floatspace customers typically rent boats for four-hour charters for celebrations such as birthdays, weddings, hens and bucks parties and corporate events. Most customers are aged 25 to 35, and about 60 per cent are male.

Demand has begun outstripping supply as summer and the festive season arrives. Mr Treseder said the business was on track for annual revenue of $10m-$12m.

“We’ve got bookings into 2023 already now. The spike now has been for Saturdays and Sundays through the peak periods. It has been absolutely manic the past couple of months because people have got past Covid [lockdowns],” Mr Treseder said.