Dorset marine tech company kicks off most successful crowdfunding round to date

Marine technology company savvy navvy celebrates its fastest overfunding to date on investment platform Seedrs after opening its doors to investors, with offers still pouring in.

The innovative all-in-one navigation app, often referred to as ‘Google maps for boats’, just launched their campaign and has already passed their minimum £600,000 target. The round is currently still open, but it may be the last chance for anyone who wants to own a piece of the marine tech company developed by Dorset entrepreneur Jelte Liebrand to come onboard in its possibly last crowdfunding round, after its most successful year to date.

By the end of 2022 the popular boating navigation app doubled its annual recurring revenue to £1.5m. The previous crowdfunding rounds run since 2019 proved hugely successful with more than £3m raised in total by more than 1,800 investors, including the founders of Kahoot.

“In all our rounds to date, this is the fastest overfunding we’ve ever experienced and I’m blown away by the continued support. We are knocking at the door of profitability and as a company we’re moving into a new phase. While our core product is targeted at boaters, last year we expanded that to paddleboarders, kayakers and jet-skiers too.

"With this funding round we will be looking at launching our enhanced version of the app to get even more people safely out on the water. We are continuing to overfund, but anyone who wants the opportunity to own a piece of savvy navvy will have to act fast to not miss out. What a great way to start 2023,” says Jelte Liebrand, CEO & Founder of savvy navvy.

Interest in the navigation app, which ex-Google software engineer and avid sailor Jelte built from the ground up alongside his now 15-strong fully remote team – is more prominent than ever.

“We’ve hit close to a million app downloads and users have plotted more than 100,000,000 miles around the world. Now in our sixth year here at savvy navvy, we are actively shaping the marine industry for the better and challenging the bigger navigation apps in the market.

"This investment will help continue to drive these business and new technical innovations forward. We are also working more closely with marine agencies and other stakeholders, as we are building one of the most insight-rich platforms on boating behaviour. It is a rare opportunity to play a part in shaping the future of sailing tech as we know it and we are so delighted to have our new investors on board as we head into the next phase of growth and innovation,” Jelte says.

The Poole-based entrepreneur won the Seedrs Entrepreneur of the year award in 2019 for savvy navvy’s crowdfunding success. At the end of last year, he also won the Great British Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Scale Up category.

To find out more about savvy navvy visit savvy-navvy.com or visit their Seedrs crowdfunding page.