NextBoat Inc. has entered a strategic partnership with MarineMax, Inc., establishing the AI-powered marine technology company as the preferred wholesale partner for the world's largest recreational boat and yacht retailer. The agreement, announced on July 1, 2026, routes a significant share of MarineMax's trade-in and pre-owned inventory through the NextBoat AI platform for evaluation, marketing, and sale to a nationwide network of wholesale buyers. This partnership is expected to accelerate the growth of NextBoat's marketplace, data, and financing businesses by leveraging MarineMax's extensive operations, which include over 120 locations worldwide and annual revenue exceeding $2.3 billion.

Strategic Integration and Platform Capabilities

The integration aims to modernize the fragmented wholesale process by replacing manual pricing and phone calls with artificial intelligence and real-time transaction data. MarineMax becomes the first enterprise dealer group to adopt the NextBoat platform at scale. The system is designed to improve pricing transparency, increase operational efficiency, and help dealers move inventory faster.

The NextBoat AI Platform provides several key functionalities:

Revenue Opportunities and Financial Services

Beyond transaction efficiency, the partnership creates long-term revenue opportunities through financing and insurance. NextBoat will utilize Newcoast, MarineMax's finance and insurance arm, to provide solutions for transactions originating on the platform. As transaction volume rises, the companies anticipate generating recurring insurance renewal revenue and additional financing income, potentially creating an annuity-like revenue stream.

Management Commentary

Jason Ruegg, Founder and Executive Chairman of NextBoat, stated that the adoption by the largest company in the industry serves as validation of the platform's technology. He noted that the partnership marks the beginning of enterprise-scale deployment, with every transaction offering opportunities for financing and insurance that could yield recurring revenue for years.

Kyle Langbehn, Executive Vice President and President of Retail Operations at MarineMax, emphasized that the integration of NextBoat's technology is expected to improve efficiency while maintaining service levels. He added that the collaboration with Newcoast is positioned to drive meaningful finance and insurance revenue through the industry's leading products.

NextBoat Inc. announced that its Autograph Yacht Group division has completed the sale of a 2009 Abeking & Rasmussen 60-meter superyacht, last asking $45,000,000, representing the largest brokerage transaction in the company's history. Burgess represented the seller, while Gary Hardcastle of Autograph Yacht Group represented the buyer. With fewer than 20 superyacht sales of this scale occurring worldwide each year, the transaction signals that Autograph Yacht Group has entered the top tier of the global luxury market.

The sale marks a meaningful expansion in the caliber of client NextBoat serves, generating significantly higher commission revenue than typical mid-market deals. Management believes this validates a core element of its growth strategy: that by attracting world-class broker talent, NextBoat can drive substantial increases in revenue per transaction while expanding its addressable market upward. Mike Burke, President of Autograph Yacht Group, noted that the transaction demonstrates the division's capability to serve every segment of the market, from premium center consoles to the world's most exclusive superyachts.

Strategic Integration and Cost Reductions

Parallel to this high-value brokerage success, NextBoat continues to integrate the operations of Apex Marine Companies (APEX), which it acquired on May 1, 2026. The company has centralized the majority of APEX's pre-owned inventory at its Miami location and integrated the entire boat inventory into the NextBoat platform. This integration has yielded approximately $90,000 in monthly reductions in selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses through facility consolidation, including the closure of the Haulover location, as well as vendor rationalization and personnel optimization.

Operational Performance

The APEX sales team has completed the sale of 15 vessels across multiple product categories since the acquisition, with several additional transactions pending or completed during June. The service department has expanded its capacity, currently storing eight boats on-site and developing additional yard space expected to be finished by the end of June. Andy Simmons, President of APEX Operations, attributed the early success to the team's adaptability, while Brian John, Chief Executive Officer of NextBoat, emphasized that centralizing inventory and expanding service infrastructure are key steps toward building a more efficient and scalable platform.