What Find a Crew does

Find a Crew™ is an online two-sided marketplace that connects maritime crew with boat owners, operating across recreational, professional, commercial, and shorebased segments. Founded in 2004 and operated by Australian private company Nautycal Pty Ltd, the platform enables direct peer-to-peer matching without acting as a crewing agency; members retain full control over communications and meetings. The company positions itself as the world's largest online marine crew and boat network with verified members spanning over 200 countries, reporting thousands of crew and boats active on a rolling 45-day basis.

The core product surface comprises a "Find Crew™" search for boat owners, a "Find Boats" search for crew, and a "Premium" subscription tier that unlocks unlimited chats between Premium members on terms of 1 month to 3 years, with pause capability up to 18 months and no auto-renewals. The platform is delivered as a Progressive Web App (PWA) installable directly from the browser, avoiding app-store dependency. Adjacent surfaces include a "Routes & Seasons" voyage-planning module and a related sub-brand, CrewScene™, operated by the same parent. Multi-language support (English and Italian) signals internationalization-led reach.

Monetization is freemium at the consumer level: core registration, listing, matching, and waving are free; only optional Premium subscriptions generate revenue, priced in AUD and processed through Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. Go-to-market is product-led and self-serve, with growth relying on a built-in "Tell a friend" referral feature, member testimonials, and organic SEO rather than paid acquisition. The customer base is highly diffuse (individual mariners, recreational sailors, professional crew, and small-vessel owners), with no enterprise anchor accounts disclosed.

Name

Find a Crew

Legal name

Nautycal Pty Ltd

Website

https://findacrew.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Find a Crew is an online two-sided marketplace connecting maritime crew members with boat owners across recreational, professional, commercial, and shorebased segments in over 200 countries. The freemium platform offers free matching and an optional Premium subscription for unlimited chats, delivered via a Progressive Web App.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Maritime Crew Marketplace

NAICS

Support Activities for Water Transportation (4883)

SIC

Water Transportation (4400)

akta.pro primary industry

Crew, Marine & Offshore Travel Management (THAKACAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Private Yacht & Luxury Boat Charters (With Crew) (THAJALAE)

Keywords

• Maritime crew network
• Boat crew matching
• Online crewing platform
• Marine employment marketplace
• Sailing crew finder

Headquarters

HQ city

Mooloolaba

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Premium Subscription: Optional premium subscription for committed Crew or Boat members offering unlimited chats with Premium members. Available for 1 month to 3 years with pause capability up to 18 months. No auto-renewals.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Find a Crew operates an online marketplace platform that directly connects maritime crew members (recreational, professional, commercial, and shorebased) with boat owners across more than 200 countries. The service is offered free of charge for registration, listing, matching, searching, and waving, with an optional Premium subscription tier that unlocks unlimited chats with Premium members and multi-year subscription terms without auto-renewal.

Product overview

Find a Crew™ operates as a unified online maritime network platform connecting crew members and boat owners. The core offering consists of the Find Crew™ and Find Boats search/matching services, supported by a Progressive Web App for mobile access. An optional Premium Membership tier provides enhanced communication features. The platform spans over 200 countries with verified members and positions categorized into Recreational, Professional, Commercial, and Shorebased segments. The related CrewScene™ service is also operated by the company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CrewScene™: A related maritime crew platform mentioned in navigation as affiliated with Find a Crew™

Products and services

• Find a Crew™ Platform World's largest online marine crew and boat network enabling direct peer-to-peer connections between verified crew members (recreational, professional, commercial, shorebased) and boat owners worldwide, with free core matching functionality.
• Premium Membership Optional paid subscription tier for committed Crew or Boat members providing unlimited chats with Premium members, flexible subscription periods (1 month to 3 years), pause capability up to 18 months, and no auto-renewals.
• CrewScene™ Related maritime crew network service operated by the same parent company (Nautycal Pty Ltd), functioning as an affiliated maritime crew platform accessible via external link.

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature1 record

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• LinkedIn: LinkedIn is the dominant global professional networking platform and serves as a free substitute for marine crew and boat owner connections. Its scale, search, and messaging capabilities represent the largest competitive threat to Find a Crew's value proposition.
• Indeed: Indeed is the world's largest general job board, hosting a meaningful volume of marine and offshore job listings for free. It offers employers and crew a free alternative to specialized platforms like Find a Crew.

Direct peers

• CrewSeekers: CrewSeekers is one of the most established online maritime crew and boat matching platforms, connecting amateur and professional crew with boat owners globally. It competes head-to-head with Find a Crew in the same niche of direct P2P crew recruitment.
• Dockwalk: Dockwalk is a long-running yacht industry media brand with a job board and crew networking features targeted at yacht captains and crew. It competes with Find a Crew for the same yacht crew and boat owner audience.
• Bluewater Yachting: Bluewater Yachting is a yacht crew recruitment agency and platform serving captains, crew, and yacht owners worldwide. While it operates more as an agency than a marketplace, it targets the same P2P matching use cases that Find a Crew serves.
• Yotspot: Yotspot is a yacht-focused crew recruitment platform offering job listings, CV databases, and crew management tools for the superyacht and yacht industry. It directly overlaps with Find a Crew's Professional and Recreational segments, particularly around yacht crewing.

Others

• Riviera Maritime Media: Riviera Maritime Media is a maritime industry publisher with news, jobs, and recruitment content serving commercial marine and offshore sectors. It is adjacent rather than directly competitive, but its job marketplace overlaps with Find a Crew's Commercial segment.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/findacrew

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Find a Crew