When YachtCloud was founded in 2014, its mission emerged from a decade of experience within the yachting industry — long enough to recognise a growing disconnect between what onboard technology offered and what owners truly expected.
“There was a clear gap between what was being delivered and owners’ expectations,” says Lucie Hubert. “We realised that design and user experience mattered just as much as raw technical capabilities.”
That insight became the foundation of YachtCloud, a technology company built specifically for luxury environments, where systems must perform flawlessly while remaining intuitive, discreet and design-led.
For Hubert and the team, luxury in technology is defined by three non-negotiables: material excellence, reliability and personalisation.
“Our hardware must complement a high-end environment,” she explains. “It has to work reliably at sea — no buffering, no lagging — and it has to deliver a personalised experience for owners.”
This philosophy distinguishes YachtCloud from conventional media and control systems, which often prioritise features over experience. Onboard superyachts — and now increasingly in private residences and hospitality settings — technology should quietly support service rather than demand attention.
Instead of developing isolated products, YachtCloud was conceived as a fully integrated ecosystem.
“The philosophy was to create coordinated systems — essentially a cloud on a yacht,” Hubert says.
At the centre of this ecosystem is OMNIYON, YachtCloud’s media and control system, seamlessly integrated with platforms such as GEST, its service call solution, and YIS, the infotainment system. The result is consistency — unified styling, behaviour and logic across every touchpoint.
“Our systems are more powerful because they’re fully integrated,” she adds. “It makes deployments more predictable for owners and crew, and easily scalable.”
One of YachtCloud’s most distinctive innovations is GEST, a luxury service call system originally developed for the yachting market and now expanding into private residences, hospitality and corporate environments.
Created to feel more like a design object than a piece of hardware, the GEST Service Call Button is fully customisable — from the finish of the ring to engravings, leather inlays and multi-touch functions — allowing it to blend seamlessly into its surroundings.
Behind its elegant simplicity lies a fully synchronised system. Alongside the physical button, GEST includes the Connect App for mobile devices, a manager portal to oversee activity, and a staff app that allows crew to receive and manage requests in real time.
“GEST is more than just a button,” Hubert explains. “All components are connected and synchronised, creating a professional and scalable service experience.”
A digital alternative, the GEST Connect App, offers the same service-request functionality without hardware, making it particularly appealing for smaller yachts, while still delivering a refined guest experience. Alternatively, a lot of bigger yachts use both the physical button and the app: having the physical button in the main area and the app for guests cabins in order to create seamless coverage throughout the vessel.
Although the experience feels bespoke, the technology behind it is deliberately standardised.
“We standardise the platform layer — networking, firmware, app services and backend software — while leaving the front-end experience fully customisable,” she says.
This approach allows crew to adapt interfaces quickly and intuitively. OMNIYON, for example, is code-less, enabling staff to change the user interface themselves depending on the owner or guest profile.
“Crew members can easily customise the experience and change it again when guests come onboard.”
Sustainability and longevity are also becoming increasingly important within the luxury sector. Many YachtCloud products rely primarily on software, requiring only a single server that can remain in use for years. Physical elements such as GEST buttons are designed to be refurbished rather than replaced.
“Buttons can be repolished or have batteries replaced, rather than clients having to buy new ones,” Hubert notes.
Looking ahead, YachtCloud is focused on three key growth paths: expanding GEST into ultra-high-net-worth private residences and palaces in the Middle East (UAE, KSA, Qatar), the USA and UK, developing new software-based services such as analytics and operational portals, and evolving product finishes and features in response to different markets.
Artificial intelligence also features on the roadmap.
“It’s a natural next step,” she says. “Our products are suitable for AI features — but education comes first, for both crew and owners.”
Rather than chasing visibility, YachtCloud has built its reputation on discretion — creating technology that enhances service without ever intruding upon it. In a world where luxury is increasingly defined by how something feels rather than how it looks, YachtCloud — and GEST in particular — offers a compelling vision of the future: one where a single, beautifully considered touch is all that’s required.
To find out more about YachtCloud and its services, plus its other products, visit the links below:
YachtCloud
YachtCloud BV
Rotterdam
The Netherlands
Web: yachtcloud.com
Tel: +31 10 820 0252
Email: info@yachtcloud.com
Instagram: @yachtcloud