Marine tech start-up Pick a Pier has secured investment from venture capitalist Lane Bess.
Bess is the principal and founder of Bess Ventures and Advisory, and was previously COO of cloud security company Zscaler Inc. Bess also notably flew into outer space aboard one of Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin flights in December last year.
Idan Cohen, Pick a Pier CEO, says: “We are thrilled and honoured to welcome Lane Bess to the Pick a Pier family. His passion for the ocean and innovation is an inspiration and we can’t wait to work with him to bring our passion together to drive the business forward.”
With the global recreational boating market set to be worth over $230bn by 2024, the industry is seeing a major shortage of marina berths.
Founded in Israel in 2017, Pick a Pier is a platform that connects boaters with marinas to optimise the use of berths through the shared-economy principle. Boaters can find and book an empty berthing spot in advance at marinas across Europe; reducing the need for the construction of additional berths and improving the sustainability and profitability of the marine industry.
The start-up also develops technological solutions to help make sailing more convenient and accessible. Its latest innovation is the Popeye Sail Club customer loyalty scheme, which helps marinas to retain customers and gives them a reason to keep coming back.