JetSmarter Raises $105 Million for Uber-Like Services in the Sky
- Latest round values startup at $1.6 billion, company says
- Rapper Jay-Z, Saudi Royal Family were among early investors
The flight deck and passenger seats of a Beechcraft King Air C90GTx aircraft manufactured by Textron Aviation Inc., a unit of Textron Inc., sit on display at the Singapore Airshow held at the Changi Exhibition Centre in Singapore, on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016. The air show runs through Feb. 21.
Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/BloombergJetSmarter, which operates an Uber-like network that connects travelers to empty seats on chartered planes, raised $105 million in its latest funding round, indicating that the startup has managed to make the concept work where others have failed.
The company, which currently offers about 50 routes between more than 30 cities around the world, plans to use the cash injection to expand into Asia, South America and Africa, said founder and Chief Executive Officer Sergey Petrossov. His goal is to add another 80 routes within the next year.