Edinburgh entrepreneur’s ski start-up set for global growth launches crowdfunding campaign

A tech start-up founded by a trio of former members of the British Ski Team, including Edinburgh-based CEO Nick Robinson has launched a crowdfunding campaign which would allow it to grow globally.

Maison Sport was created to connect people with the very best independent and passionate ski instructors

Maison Sport which was created to connect people with the very best independent and passionate ski and snowboard instructors is bidding to raise £400,000 through the crowdfunder which is taking place on the Seedrs website as part of a larger £1.4 million goal.

Started in 2016, the tech company was founded by three former British ski champions – Edinburgh-based Nick Robinson, CEO and Co-founder and his brother Olly Robinson, COO and Co-founder, and Aaron Tipping, CFO and Co-founder.

The funds will allow the independent ski instructor platform to grow, evolve and expand into new countries across the globe.

Starting in The Alps, the platform has since grown rapidly to include more than 350 resorts and over 1000 trusted and fully qualified instructors across France, Switzerland, Italy and Austria.

The new round of funding is expected to help the business expand into more than four new areas across the globe over the next six months, including Scotland, Norway, Sweden and Japan.

The platform connects avid skiers with instructors reducing costs to the customer, and providing a more profitable practice for instructors, affording them more control over their earnings and teaching schedules.

Having already raised £1 million at the end of the summer 2020 from a collective of investors, the additional crowdsourced funds will complete their fundraise.

Nick Robinson, CEO said: “Myself and co-founders Olly and Aaron are all passionate ski instructors at heart, which is why it’s so important to us that this business grows but grows in the right way to ensure the best possible experiences for our customers and for our instructors.

“The funding we’ve secured to date, along with the funds we hope to secure on Seedrs, will give the business the boost it needs to go truly global, and importantly, support independent ski instructors who have been hit hard in the current climate.”

As the only platform dedicated to independent instructors, Maison Sport has proven to be a game changer for ski and snowboard instructors who can significantly increase their earnings using the platform.

The marketplace has recently surpassed 20,000 hours of lessons taught and prides itself on the site’s 3,100 plus individual instructor reviews left by over 70 per cent of customers, placed on instructor’s profile after their lessons, over 90 per cent of which are rated 5 stars.

In 2018 the start-up raised £786,000 from a combination of an initial Seedrs crowdfund which exceeded target by 135 per cent , as well as two angel funding rounds in January 2016 and December 2016, which allowed them to launch their innovative concept and facilitated early growth.

Last year, the founders raised an additional £1 million and have brought serial entrepreneur Lorenz Bogaert on board, to join the company as a non-executive director.

Bogaert joins non-executive chairman Graeme Gunn, and an impressive advisory board including some well-known fund managers and Kevin Byrne, Founder of Checkatrade.com.

Over the course of the past 6 months, the business has gone from 7 employees to 15 and expects to grow to 21 once further funding is secured.

More information can be found out on the Maison Sport website.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription