For decades, having a private yacht has been a central
symbol of wealth and affluence. This kind of boating has become synonymous with
luxury. But a Greek company, Incrediblue, is making yacht rental and other
services easier for anyone who has the resources to book such a marine experiences.
The Incrediblue company makes yacht rental a three-step
process: First, customers pick a boat through the website. They then speak to
the captain or owner and, finally, complete the booking.
Incrediblue offers detailed descriptions of different yacht
options, including visual presentation of all of the amenities people would expect on a luxury ship.
Customers can also browse by destination or use social
media tools on the site to do additional research. Some of the Incrediblue search features
aim to make boat transactions much more simple for users.
The company was launched in January 2013 and is a “Greek-born” firm, Incrediblue CEO and founder Antonios Fiorakis said.
“We started in Greece and are now based in the U.K. with our
R&D still in Greece,” Fiorakis told Balkan Business Wire. “For us, being in Greece means that we
are close to our clients and partners. We are one of the few companies that
actually have a competitive advantage through being in the region.”
Fiorakis said his quality teams bring attention to detail,
which helps serve customers in the yacht rental market. Also, the
company was able to get in on the ground floor and become a “first mover” for
this particular service, he said.
“Renting a yacht is still a very difficult thing to do for
most people,” Fiorakis said. “It lacks transparency, ease of use and
standardization. That’s what we focused on fixing since the very beginning.”
As for the company’s investment philosophy, Fiorakis said
Incrediblue was able to access a range of capable investors.
“What helped us kick-start our business was receiving funding
from some of Europe’s and the region’s best venture capital funds and angel investors,” Fiorakis said. “Our mission is to make yacht holidays accessible
for more people than ever before, and every year we see that we are a few steps
closer to making this dream a reality.”
