As demand for boating and outdoor recreation accelerates, Boatsetter and Getmyboat, both marketplaces for boat rentals and on-the-water experiences, announced their merger today, and the new combined company will be based in Miami.
An innovator in the the peer-to-peer boating wave, Boatsetter is homegrown. The company, which has referred to itself as the “Airbnb for boats,” has been based in South Florida since its founding more than a decade ago by South Florida entrepreneurs Jaclyn Baumgarten and Andrew Sturner. Michael Farb, who has been CEO of the Fort Lauderdale-based company since 2022, will become CEO of the new combined entity. The company declined to disclose the name of the combined company.
The headquarters will be in Miami, but the Boatsetter and Getmyboat teams will continue to operate from their current locations. Both consumer-facing platforms and apps will remain active with no immediate changes for consumers, owners or operators, Boatsetter said in a news release. The combined company will employ 100 to 115 people, a spokeswoman said.
Boatsetter and California-based Getmyboat offer peer-to-peer rentals, where users list their own boats to rent to fellow boaters, sometimes with captains, and also rentals through commercial operators such as boat-charter companies. The two companies have competed in many of the same areas, including Miami, which is the biggest market for both companies. Both companies feature all types of boating options, from jet skis to yachts.
Together, the companies are poised to become the global leader in their industry.
Boatsetter is backed by private-equity firms Level Equity and Centerbridge Partners, and Getmyboat is majority-owned by Japanese engine manufacturer Yanmar. All three backers will continue to hold ownership stakes in the combined company, Farb told the Wall Street Journal.
The two platforms combined have about 13 million annual users. The combined company is expected to have more than $100 million in bookings this year and is set to reach profitability next year, Farb told the Journal. With both companies doing the majority of their business in the US, an international expansion is in the plans, Farb told the Journal.
Outdoor recreation is now a $1.1 trillion economic engine, and the boat rental category alone is projected to reach $36 billion by 2032.
A record number of Americans want to spend more time in nature and 80% of young people saying that being outdoors is important to them – and that surge in interest is playing out on their platforms, said Farb, in the press announcement. “Millions of people are choosing time on the water to reconnect with nature, their loved ones and the outdoors more intentionally. Both companies have long admired each other’s growth and innovation and this merger unlocks greater access to that lifestyle.”
This growth wave has of course benefited the thousands of boat owners and operators using these platforms to rent their boats or sell excursions. Tools, services, and support for owners and operators will be a key priority for the combined entity, the companies said.
“As a long-time boat owner, these platforms have helped me keep my boat on the water and turn my passion into a dependable income stream,” said JP Mancini, a Boatsetter and Getmyboat owner in Miami who has completed over 1,000 trips on the platform and earned more than $1.2 million.
