“I wanted a deckchair and it had been super complicated to find one free. “Last year, returning to the Côte d’Azur after seven years spent in London, the Niçois Sébastien Tomi did not take long before finding a new project in which to immerse himself. “In England, you can book everything online. I told myself that we had to do that, here, for private beaches which are often crowded at the height of summer, ”explains the ex-student in business school, former product manager at Amadeus.
His idea gained ground and also won over two friends, an IT developer and a marketer, aged 32 like him. They are teaming up. The concept of Mysunbed and its site are first tested in two Nice beaches. “We really launched the website on May 20 and validated the relevance of the system. It allows you to have an idea of availability everywhere at the same time. No need to make twenty phone calls or to end up on the spot with a refusal, ”he boasts.
Extend the offer to the entire Mediterranean basin
Supported by the European Center for Business and Innovation (CEEI) of the Nice Côte d’Azur metropolis, Mysunbed has already federated, in a few weeks, around fifteen private beaches, from Golfe-Juan to Villefranche-sur-Mer. A new establishment will also soon arrive near Cannes. And the canvassing continues. “We have chosen to focus on the Alpes-Maritimes this year, but the idea is obviously to expand the offer, over the next few years, to the Mediterranean basin and why not beyond,” explains Sébastien Tomi.
In addition to deckchairs (and umbrellas), guests can book other services offered by the beaches. From paddle rental to massages, including catering offers. “We pay ourselves on the final basket with a percentage,” he says. There is no subscription to appear on the site. In just under two months, Mysunbed has already been used for just over 600 bookings.
For now, everything is done on a dedicated web page. But the small team is considering whether to develop smartphone apps for the summer of 2022.