This year, a boating navigation app founder was named the UK’s most successful scale-up entrepreneur after he experienced “huge user growth.”
As part of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2022, Jelte Liebrand, founder of Savvy Navvy, was awarded the accolade for developing marine technology. It has nearly doubled its users in over 100 countries worldwide in the last year, according to the businessman who calls his company “Google Maps for boats.”
Aside from paddleboarding and kayaking, the company has added jet skiing and paddleboarding functions. US, Australian, Mediterranean, and Scandinavian markets have grown the most.
“It was such a surprise to win ‘Scale-Up Entrepreneur of the Year’ out of so many amazing business leaders across the country,” said Mr. Liebrand. Being one of the only entrepreneurs representing the marine industry at the awards ceremony in front of 1,400 people made me feel particularly proud.
In 2022, Savvy Navvy will have 14 staff working at its offices in Bournemouth, more than doubling its turnover.
To fulfill our vision to get more people out on the water, we have worked hard to constantly develop our app with unique and user-friendly features based on user feedback over the past five years.
With the help of Starling Bank, the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, recognized hard work and uplifting stories from business owners across the country.
“Savvy Navvy is an innovative and dynamic business that is growing and has a global presence. Bringing an excellent solution to an obvious problem is the business’s strength. A fantastic story” said Ying Tan, non-executive chair of Knowledge Bank and one of the Great British Entrepreneur Award 2022 judges.
Savvy Navvy agreed to a significant deal in August to work with the world’s largest boat rental platform. Through the agreement, Zizoo, which operates in Austria, Germany, and Croatia, incorporated Savvy Navvy’s technology into its platforms for users.
