Saudi Royal Family, Jay-Z top up investments in JetSmarter

12 December, 2016

JetSmarter is making waves in Miami, New York, and other American cities where the frequency of booking private jets has grown over the last decade. This company provides private jets-for-hire through its simple and sleek app.

It’s just like the popular cab-calling service − Uber that books a taxi with a few taps on the smartphone. In JetSmarter’s case, you can avoid the difficult security screenings airports necessitate. You also won’t have to deal with unruly co-passengers or be asked to leave the plane because of a cooked-up reason.

It wasn’t just the app that attracted rapper Jay-Z and the Saudi Royal Family to invest in JetSmarter. The services this company offers are quite out of the ordinary. One can book an entire plane and choose the flight options himself/herself. Other than that, flyers can jump onto a plane booked by someone else and share a seat. Another service lets people book flights 2 months in advance. JetSmarter also provides helicopters to reach proximate destinations if there’s a traffic problem.

Because of the success JetSmarter has seen, Jay-Z and the Saudi Royal Family have increased their investments this year. New investments have flocked into JetSmarter’s court as well. The investors include KZ Capital, a London-based capital management company.

These investors have helped JetSmarter raise $105 million in Series C funding, with a $1.5 billion pre-money valuation. The investment is expected to finance the aviation organization’s foray in Asia, Latin America, and other regions.

The growing popularity of JetSmarter is due to a barrage of positive reviews from its users. Businessmen and celebs on tight schedules were able to save time and money with easy jet bookings. A Yelp review called it ‘a great company’. The user had his Jet Deal empty leg cancelled. JetSmarter promptly booked and paid for a commercial first-class flight to mitigate the damage for the user.

Another Yelp user deems it to be a life-changer as he always wanted to fly private, but couldn’t, due to the incredibly high charges. JetSmarter made that easy with a very low annual fee.

This has become possible because of JetSmarter does not own any planes itself. The aviation company works with jet operators who own a range of planes that are well-maintained but standing idle in the hangar. Employing inactive jets, which only fly 200 hours every year was a grand move by the JetSmarter team.

So far, JetSmarter appears to be doing well in the market. The company is working on an ‘on-demand’ access for non-members, which can possibly attract even more takers who want a comfortable aviation experience.