Remember The Spark.Me Startup Competition 2014 Winner: Fishingbooker
There’s a lot of different ways people tend to unwind. From skiing, to having a nice bicycle trip through the countryside or fishing. This last one is actually the one we’re going to be telling you a lot about today, considering that Fishingbooker won the Spark.Me Startup Competition back in 2014, and we’d like to take a brief look into where they are today and what are they up to.
In the words of the founder Nemanja Cerovac, Fishingbooker is essentially Airbnb for fishing charters. It’s where people can find their boat, read reviews, and book a fishing trip online (thanks TechCrunch!). The guys behind the company managed to transform their love of fishing into a lucrative business that has charters in 771 cities and 72 countries around the globe, as well as 2177 captains that will take you on a fishing trip in those cities and countries. There’s no difference if you’re in the need of some lake fishing on the Great Lakes in the US, or if you feel like challenging Tuna in the Adriatic – Fishingbooker has a boat, a captain and lots of fun waiting for you in both places.
Plenty Of Fish In The Sea
When you think about it, there’s really a huge market for an app that lets you go and fish without the need for, you know, owning a boat. Because boats are expensive, and even if you own a boat, you can’t just go to the Bahamas with it if you’re situated in Portugal.
Considering that fishing should be available to anyone, Fishingbooker started a market that did not yet exist, like Airbnb did when it first started. The process is extremely easy: you go to the website, pick the place where you’d like to fish, add the date and the amount of people that will be fishing with you and you’re all set!
The part that’s the most fun is actually picking the boat that will take you on your journey. If you prefer more classic boats in the Adriatic for example, you can go fishing on a boat that is probably older than you and has deep character, or you can jump into a state-of-the-art new machine with all the tech you can desire and catch big fish with ease.
That is, of course, IF you get lucky.
Every captain and ship have their own profile page, where you can browse photos of recent fishing trips, see the type of fishing you can indulge in, like offshore and nearshore fishing, browse the techniques that you can use on the boat, and the types of fish you will be fishing for. There’s also a list of amenities that will be provided on said boat, such as GPS, toilet, air conditioning and even snorkeling equipment so you can take a break from fishing by taking a swim or a dive around the boat. Sounds like a great way to spend the day!
Don’t Forget The Lucky Charms!
The site also offers some “classic” things that are available on any and all booking sites, like reviews of boats and captains, biographies of the people that will be taking you on your trip, and a great feature called “Reports” that lets you see what kind of fish did other people catch while on a fishing trip in the boat you’re looking at.
Perhaps the boat itself has an aura of good luck that surrounds it? It’s always to check first because you know, fishing can be pretty unpredictable sometimes.
Great quality content and service ensured that Fishingbooker won the Spark.Me Startup Challenge in 2014 where it acquired the privilege to go to San Francisco and showcase what they can do on the TechCrunch Disrupt. It was there that Fishingbooker managed to go to the finals of the Battlefield competition and get awarded the Audience choice award, as well as being able to pitch their idea to the panel of judges. The title went to Hello Alfred but Fishingbooker was very close to the top, something we congratulate the team for.
Fishingbooker is still going strong in the fishing world, and has really earned its place in the vast sea (pun intended) of booking apps. Whether you’re a professional fisherman trying to find some new type of fish to catch or just get away from your routine trips or an amateur that just wants to unwind a little bit, Fishingbooker has you covered with the best features you can ask for in an app designed just for you, the fisherman.
Join FishingBooker’s Glory
For more info on Fishingbooker, visit their site! In the meantime, apply your startup for the Spark.Me Startup Competition and catch the biggest fish of them all – the entry ticket to TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Alley!
