Charter market: Insolvency proceedings opened against Zizoo Germany ++Update++

+++Update+++: In Vienna, the headquarters of Zizoo, a law firm of an affected charter customer is said to have filed for bankruptcy. This is reported by Austrian media. The decision to take this step was made after no payment was made despite a corresponding court order. The law firm also filed a complaint with the public prosecutor's office in Vienna. +++

Article from 5 February 2024:

It seemed only a matter of time: after the German subsidiary of the online charter platform Zizoo had been massively depriving customers of their money for more than six months by not forwarding it to the charter fleets, the Charlottenburg Local Court has now initiated insolvency proceedings against the company. Lawyer Dr Philip Grauer, Hausvogteiplatz 11, 10117 Berlin, has been appointed insolvency administrator. It is now important for creditors to assert their claims as quickly as possible. The file number is 36z IN 813/24.

YACHT reported extensively on the case, and more than a dozen readers who had lost their down payments contacted the editorial team. Online review portals such as Trustpilot and Tripadvisor reported dozens of similar cases, not just from German customers. Over the past few months, various affected parties had already called in lawyers and in some cases obtained enforcement orders. Until the end, the managing director continued to put customers off and promised refunds at the beginning of this year. As these failed to materialise in most cases, some of those affected have now also filed criminal charges against the Croatian, and the Berlin public prosecutor's office recently opened an investigation into fraud and delay in filing for insolvency. The outcome of these proceedings may in turn be important for creditors if the claims cannot be honoured from the insolvency estate, which is often the case with charter agencies in insolvency.

Zizoo claims to be one of the "world's leading online agencies" on the charter market. According to its own information, the online start-up has now raised around 30 million US dollars in various investor rounds over the last few years. As part of its growth, Zizooboats GmbH was also founded in Berlin in spring 2017, also with the Croatian as Managing Director. Only the German subsidiary GmbH in Berlin is now affected by the insolvency; Zizoo's headquarters are in Austria. The company's website is still online.

More on the topic

• Public prosecutor's office investigates Zizoo managing director
• Online agency Zizoo cheats customers out of their money.