January 16, 2024
As part of our Entrepreneur Series, we had the pleasure of getting to know Matt Ovenden, Founder at Borrow a Boat –a leading boat rental and yacht charter marketplace, with over 35,000 boat listings across 65 + countries worldwide.
In this interview, we deep dive into what led Matt into the industry, his vision for the future, top tips for a successful entrepreneur and much more…
What was your background prior to starting Borrow a Boat and what was your motivation to start a business?
I’m a serial entrepreneur with a number of previous businesses in the cleantech and renewables space, I’m also a chartered mechanical engineer and formerly the Head of Innovation for London Underground.
I started Borrow A Boat because I could see a huge opportunity to modernise the boating industry – to simultaneously help boat owners but make boating more accessible in general via a modern marketplace – as it should be!
Can you describe Borrow a Boat’s Mission in one sentence?
To making boating accessible to the masses.
Have you always been passionate about boats, and where does this passion come from?
I have always loved boats and the water, and I have a lot of childhood memories of being on the water, sailing and water skiing and spending quality time with family and friend on or near the water.
I didn’t think I’d work in the boating industry, but when I exited my last renewables business, I was looking at buying a boat, and also thinking of the next business idea, and I thought hard about boating and the economics of ownership plus how accessible / inaccessible it was – and then the idea was born… I didn’t buy the boat but set up Borrow A Boat instead!
Where do you see Borrow a Boat in five years’ time?
This sector is going through a global consolidation of regional marketplaces, similar to what we’ve seen in other online marketplace sectors, particularly in travel – eg Booking.com, Hotels.com, Airbnb, Skyscanner etc.
The boating marketplaces will follow the same pattern – we are the leading British boating marketplace, and we’ve acquired the leading Dutch site. We are looking to drive further consolidation in the space – within 5yrs this space will have significantly consolidated globally and there will be only 2 or 3 boating marketplaces left, but they will all be very big companies, with at least one of them a unicorn. And we are actively setting out now to build a big global business in this space!
What is your favourite part about what you do?
Boating is a fun industry – getting people out on the water is a good, positive thing, and people are excited to book boat charters, so we’re enabling positive experiences.
Aside from that – leading a tech startup like this is never dull, it’s an adventure from start to finish, I like the cut and thrust of it, you have to be ready for the ups and downs and be resilient, but it can be awe-inspiring to see the progress from a small idea, to building a big and valuable business!
Could you describe any challenges that you had to overcome regarding your business?
We often have challenges related to raising capital and funding growth – we’ve done it very well over the years with over £8m raised, but it’s not always been easy – for example when we were in the pandemic and international travel was banned indefinitely and we were out raising capital for a travel-tech business – people thought I was mad! Fortunately we got it away though.
If you could give your past self a piece of advice, what would it be?
Keep going, keep doing what you’re doing – part of the role here is to keep resilient in the face of at times enormous challenges!!
What are the top 3 attributes of a successful entrepreneur?
Resilience. Self-belief. People / communication skills.
Who is your biggest inspiration, both personally & professionally?
I worked with Richard Branson in one of my previous business when we were building renewable energy systems in the Caribbean – he was a great inspiration – and a big advocate for entrepreneurship generally, he loved what I was doing, offered to help any way he could, and encouraged me to keep on going!
Quick fire:
What is your go to holiday destination? Greece – sailing between the Greek islands.
If you could invite anyone to dinner (past or present) who would it be? Winston Churchill – I find him fascinating, an example of extreme resilience and self belief right there!
What’s your favourite hobby outside of work? Besides boating, of course, just spending time with the family, travelling, being in nature.
If you were on death row, what would be your final meal? Oh gosh – a rib-eye steak cooked rare with a nice glass of full-bodied red!