When it comes to searching for, reserving and paying for space at a marina, boaters are met with a host of hassles. But in the age of digital—and the Uber-ized, on-demand economy—shouldn’t there be a boating app that lets you reserve a slip or a mooring with a single tap? That’s the thought that spurred co-founders Matt Fradette (a senior sales manager at HubSpot) and Mike Melillo to build Dockwa, an app that eases the booking process for boaters. There are a bevy of benefits for marinas, as well: free advertising, better inventory management and guaranteed payment all could add up to an increase in revenue.
As the four-person team gears up for a May beta launch, they have been focusing on partnering with local marinas, and already their efforts have been successful: By this summer, Boston Harbor, along with other major destinations like Newport, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and Block Island, will be Dockwa-enabled. If the app gains traction in the most popular local marinas, the team aims to expand to others.
Getting off the ground
It looks like they’re on track to meet that goal, too: While the initial aim was to have 1,000 assets (mooring or slips) under management by the May kick-off, they already have more than 5,000 after only the first few weeks of speaking with marinas. Melillo noted that considering the the market share of inventory Dockwa has accrued so far, in some of the most highly-trafficked areas in New England, they will likely move south at a much faster pace than initially anticipated.
Assuming the initial launch is successful Dockwa will be heading to the Carolinas, Florida and the Caribbean by late 2015.
You might assume the two behind Dockwa are themselves boaters, but Melillo says that’s not the case. And he believes that may be a key reason why the software has taken off so quickly. Since the founders weren’t addressing a personal pain point, they had to listen to the people it truly plagues—and that forced them to better understand the problems with the current environment.
“We have had the opportunity to speak with countless marinas and hundreds of boaters to ask them: in a perfect world, what could we build for you? It has forced us to surround ourselves with our customers and get them invested in the Dockwa vision,” he said.
Growing interest
And their approach appears to be paying off. So far, the startup has raised a $400,000 seed round from individual investors in Boston and Rhode Island, who aren’t being named. Dockwa has also established an extended team—a beta committee made up of dockmasters, managers and owners from some of the best-known marinas in New England—who continue to offer insights into how the product can be improved.
“The Ubers and Airbnbs have paved the way for our target demographic to adopt our technology quickly.”
As for what’s next for Dockwa: The startup is currently based out of downtown Newport, but they are aiming to open an office in Boston this summer. Additionally, the duo has been looking at additional revenue streams for after they’ve built up their user base. Currently, boaters use a vast array of tools and resources to gather the information they need; eventually, Melillo and Fradette envision Dockwa as a means for consolidating those efforts.
“The Ubers and Airbnbs have paved the way for our target demographic to adopt our technology quickly,” Melillo added. “The overwhelmingly positive response to the concept in New England has been a testament to that. Boaters and marinas have been waiting for this modern-day convenience to be available.”
Image of Boston harbor via Shutterstock.
